Overview
For almost 18 months, there's been no time for No Time to Die. Originally slated to hit cinemas worldwide back in April 2020, the 25th official film featuring Bond, James Bond has suffered from more than a few delays due to the pandemic — and was one of the first movies to initially move its release date, in fact. Yes, you could say the feature's plans have been both shaken and stirred, and multiple times. In Australia, they've just been given another push.
In most of the world, lovers of both martinis and spy films will finally get their latest fix of suave secret agents, sinister plots to destroy the world and big-screen espionage thrills from the end of September; however, that's no longer the case in Australia. With cinemas in New South Wales and Victoria closed for the foreseeable future due to lockdowns in both states, and reopening dates not yet announced, No Time to Die's Aussie debut has been shifted from Thursday, September 30 to Thursday, November 11.
Movie buffs can expect this to keep happening — although, unlike in 2020 and earlier in 2021 when film release dates kept being swapped around due to COVID-19, now it's just occurring in Australia. And yes, No Time to Die is delaying its release countrywide, even though cinemas in Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory currently remain open.
Need a reminder of what to look forward to, Bond-wise? A new trailer for No Time to Die has also just dropped, following a first sneak peek all the way back in 2019 and a more recent trailer in 2020. Obviously, all the franchise staples are covered in the clips so far, including world-in-peril action, savvy ladies, plenty of gadgets, eye-popping stunts and spectacles, and an Aston Martin. And, because no Bond movie would be complete without a formidable villain, this flick serves up two: an unhinged, mask-wearing new adversary called Safin (Bohemian Rhapsody Oscar-winner Rami Malek), plus imprisoned ex-opponent Blofeld (Christoph Waltz, Alita: Battle Angel).
Daniel Craig returns as 007, marking not only his fifth stint as the spy since 2006's Casino Royale, but his last — and he has company in the 00 stakes. Following the events of 2015's Spectre, Bond has left active service and started a new life in Jamaica, causing MI6 to recruit someone else to cover his turf. That'd be new agent Nomi (Captain Marvel's Lashana Lynch), and you can obviously expect the pair to cross paths. Bond being Bond, he was never going to be able to escape his line of work easily, after all. Here, he's brought back in by CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright, Westworld) to help with a mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist.
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective, Maniac) and penned by a team that includes Fukunaga, The Report director Scott Z Burns and Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge, this Bond instalment also brings back all the usual offsiders. Ralph Fiennes (The Dig) returns as M, alongside Naomie Harris (The Third Day) as Eve Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw (Little Joe) as Q and Rory Kinnear (Peterloo) as MI6 head Bill Tanner. Lea Seydoux (Kursk) is back as psychiatrist Dr Madeleine Swan, too — and, reuniting with Craig after co-starring in the fabulously entertaining Knives Out, Ana de Armas also joins the cast.
Watch the final No Time to Die trailer below:
No Time to Die will release in Australian cinemas on November 11, 2021.