The notoriously strict Chinese censorship board might be having thoughts over approving the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings after comments made by star Simu Liu recently resurfaced and saw him come in for heavy criticism in the country of his birth, but James Bond appears to be okay, as per Variety.
Until Top Gun: Maverick rolls around next summer, No Time to Die can officially be called the longest-delayed movie of the pandemic era, having originally been scheduled for release in November 2019. A full 23 months later, Daniel Craig’s final outing as cinema’s premiere secret agent will finally hit big screens all over the world.
Recent reports indicated that No Time to Die had faced so many setbacks and delays that it need to earn at least $900 million at the box office just to break even, so a Chinese run could definitely help in that regard. Then again, the franchise isn’t quite as popular on local shores as it is in the Western world, with Skyfall and Spectre earning $59 million and $84 million respectively.
Of course, any money coming in at all is a blessing in the time of COVID-19, especially when No Time to Die has become one of the very few foreign blockbusters to have been given the green light so far this year. No official bow has been set as of yet, so there’s a chance China might end up getting the 25th installment in the series a little later than the planned 30th September United Kingdom premiere, with audiences in the United States having to wait until October 8th.
