No Time To Die, the latest James Bond movie to hit theatres has dominated the box office since releasing in September 2021. However, that hasn’t stopped industry rumours from surfacing, saying that the spy movie may lose money due to Covid-19 challenges and cinema attendance. According to Variety, MGM, the studio behind the action movie, has come forward to shut down these claims, and confirmed that No Time To Die is actually a financial success that “far exceeded” expectations.
No Time To Die, the last outing for Daniel Craig’s Bond, has become 2021’s highest-grossing film of the year, earning an impressive $730 million worldwide. But, despite its success, Variety claims that insiders say the film needs to make close to $900 million to break even, let alone make a profit. This is because it cost over $250 million to produce the film, $100 million at least to promote it, and a few more million to postpone the feature for over 16 months.
The claims go onto say that due to audiences’ continued reluctance to venture into cinemas thanks to the pandemic, it is near impossible for No Time To Die to earn a profit. MGM released a statement clarifying that these ‘insider’ accounts were wrong and that the new James Bond film won’t just break even, but is in fact, on route to be a moneymaker for the studio.
“Unnamed and uninformed sources suggesting the film will lose money are categorically unfounded and put more simply, not true,” MGM told Variety. “The film has far exceeded our theatrical estimates in this timeframe, becoming the highest-grossing Hollywood film in the international marketplace and passing F9 to become the highest-grossing Hollywood film since the pandemic.”
“With the PVOD release of the film already doing stellar home viewing business, all while continuing to hold well theatrically, No Time To Die will earn a profit for MGM, both as an individual film title and as part of MGM’s incredible library,” the studio’s statement continued.
At the time of writing this, No Time To Die is roughly $142 million away from reaching its needed $900 million goal to save the studio from a financial loss. Considering how the film is still in the process of its international release the goal doesn’t seem unattainable at all. Similarly, the film could potentially make up its needed difference with its video on demand rentals via streaming services such as Amazon and Apple TV Plus.
While we wait on Bond’s figures to come in, here is our guide to the best thriller movies of all time.