James Bond fan club MI6-HQ are urging No Time To Die bosses to delay the release for the sake of public health and the film’s box office performance. In an open letter to EON, MGM and Universal posted on their website, the publication said: “After enduring three delays in production already, it is by no means easy to say this: the release of No Time To Die should be postponed. With the Coronavirus reaching pandemic status, it is time to put public health above marketing release schedules and the cost of canceling publicity events.”
The statement pointed out that a number of major events worldwide have been cancelled or delayed due to concerns about the risks of large gatherings of people amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“Leading tech companies have banned travel for hundreds of thousands of employees, including Amazon and Google. All before the US and UK outbreaks expand,” they said.
MI6-HQ also noted that cinemas have been closed in China and Japan, saying: “The Chinese box-office in January and February 2019 combined to $1.5b.
“The same period this year has netted just $3.9m – a 99.7% drop.”
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The letter claimed of the countries which have now banned or restricted large public gatherings, their contribution to No Time To Die’s predecessor Spectre’s box office was around 38 per cent of the total takings.
It went on to address the mammoth London premiere planned for the end of the month.
“Hundreds of fans and celebrities from around the world will be flying to the UK to attend,” the fan publication said.
“The Royal Albert Hall capacity is above the 5,000 limit that affected countries are banning for public gatherings.
Express.co.uk has contacted representatives for No Time To Die’s production company EON Productions asking for comment.
Universal and MGM have cancelled the No Time To Die premiere in China following the Coronavirus outbreak and mounting fears surrounding the virus.
As it stands, the 25th Bond film is set for release in the UK on April 2 and worldwide on April 4.
Today, Chinese cities Beijing and Shanghai have introduced new travel restrictions and have so far limited the movements of 700 million people in efforts to control the spread of the novel Coronavirus, officially named COVID-19.
The total number of cases of the virus has now exceeded 90,000 worldwide since the outbreak started in China.
To date, there have been 3,110 deaths from the virus, according to the World Health Organisation.
South Korea currently has the highest number of cases outside China.
The number of cases in the UK is now at 39 and the Government’s new plan to tackle the virus has revealed up to a fifth of workers could be off sick at the peak of the outbreak.
James Bond: No Time To Die is released in UK cinemas April 2.