World premiere of James Bond film No Time To Die will FINALLY be held on September 28 at London's Royal Albert Hall after lengthy Covid delays
The world premiere of the James Bond film No Time To Die will take place on September 28 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, it has been confirmed.
Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 has been repeatedly delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A message on the film's official Twitter account said the actor, 53, will be joined by producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and director Cary Joji Fukunaga on the red carpet.
Exciting: The world premiere of Bond film No Time To Die will take place on September 28 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, it has been confirmed (pictured is Daniel Craig as 007)
The premiere - which will be held on a Tuesday - will come two days before the film is released in cinemas on Thursday September 30.
A number of Bond premieres have taken place at the famous London venue, including 2015's Spectre where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex were in attendance.
No Time To Die was the first major film to fall victim to the pandemic when its April 2020 release was pushed to November as the virus swept the globe.
It was subsequently delayed a number of times while cinemas around the world remained shuttered.
Finally: Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 has been repeatedly delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic (pictured is the Royal Albert Hall)
No Time To Die also stars Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch and Ana De Armas and is directed by Fukunaga, with a script co-written by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
No Time To Die finds Bond having left active service and enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica when his old friend Felix Leiter, played by Jeffrey Wright, from the CIA turns up asking for help.
Danny Boyle was originally hired to direct but stepped away from the project over 'creative differences'.
It comes after it was recently reported that the hotly-anticipated film is set to have the world's biggest premiere when it is released.
Appearance: A message on the film's official Twitter account said the actor, 53, will be joined by producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and director Cary Joji Fukunaga on the red carpet
According to reports from The Mirror last month, MGM and the film's producers are said to have set aside £10 million for the grand event in the UK.
It was claimed that those behind-the-scenes were keen to have the premiere take place in a large London stadium like Wembley Arena.
A source speaking to the publication claimed: 'They think they can pull off the biggest in-person premiere of the post-pandemic era, and have already put aside a whopping £10million for an event in England that will signal the return of these kinds of flashy movie launches that everybody's been missing for the last year.
'They are looking at the biggest venues in London, starting with Wembley and going down from there, and have enquired about the Staples Center in Los Angeles for a US premiere.
Franchise: No Time To Die was the first major film to fall victim to the pandemic when its April 2020 release was pushed to November as the virus swept the globe (Craig is pictured)
'MGM and the Bond team have never liked the idea of launching this movie without a red carpet event, which is one of the many reasons they've rolled with all the delays.'
MailOnline contacted representatives of the James Bond franchise for further comment at the time.
Producer Barbara Broccoli has already teased what fans can expect and said that the movie will deliver a satisfying ending for Daniel's Bond.
Speaking on the official James Bond podcast, she said: 'It's a culmination of everything that his portrayal of the character has been through and it ties up all the storylines. It's a pretty epic film, I have to say.'
Wow! Daniel looked every inch the 007 action man in the new No Time to Die trailer released last month as he jumped off a bridge holding just a rope
After pushing the film's release back to April 2021 in October, MGM quashed rumours about whether it was thinking of offering the film to streaming services for a $600 million one-year licensing deal.
'We do not comment on rumours. The film is not for sale. The film's release has been postponed until April 2021 in order to preserve the theatrical experience for moviegoers,' an MGM spokesperson told Variety.
Bloomberg had reported that Netflix, Amazon and Apple had all been approached about the possibility of the movie being offered up for Premium VOD.
However, according to Deadline.com, none of the streaming services were willing to put up more than half the amount the studio was seeking.
Lead actor Craig did defend James Bond producers' decision to delay the premiere of the new film in October last year.
Big event: The film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, is the 25th film in the franchise, and finds Bond after he has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica when his old friend Felix Leiter, played by Jeffrey Wright, from the CIA turns up asking for help (pictured: Ana de Armas)
Speaking on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Craig said: 'This thing is just bigger than all of us. We want to release the movie at the same time all around the world and this isn't the right time. So fingers cross April 2 is going to be our date.'
The new release will be Craig's final outing as the spy after landing the role for 2006's Casino Royale. He has also starred in Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015).
The star has previously discussed his anxieties over the new script and admitted feeling 'physically very low' was the reason behind the film's five year delay in a recent interview with GQ Magazine.
The actor said: 'I was never going to do one again. I was like, 'Is this work really genuinely worth this, to go through this, this whole thing?' And I didn't feel... I felt physically really low.
'So the prospect of doing another movie was just, like, off the cards. And that's why it has been five years.'
Craig said that the 'physicality' of Bond is 'a preparation, in a way', because he would not get the script beforehand.
He said: 'It's making my head go, 'This is what it's going to be'.'
Trying to prepare for a role in one of the most popular film franchises in modern cinema without a script also caused him to have anxiety.
He said: 'I have suffered from it in the past. I have suffered because it's been like, 'I can't cope. I can't deal with this'.'
Ending: The new release will be Daniel Craig's final outing as the spy after landing the role for 2006's Casino Royale. He has also starred in Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre
The hunt for a new Bond began in 2016 when Daniel admitted he was 'over it' after being cast in the role since Casino Royale in 2006.
'... I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists,' he famously told TimeOut when asked whether he would do another Bond film.
'No, not at the moment. Not at all. That's fine. I'm over it at the moment. We're done. All I want to do is move on.'
Since the speculation began the likes of Tom Hardy, James Norton, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba and even retired footballer David Beckham have been mentioned as possible replacements.
Stars: Naomie Harris (Eve Moneypenny), Ralph Fiennes and Rory Kinnear are pictured in No Time To Die