In a bit of ugly deja vu, specifically for James Bond fans, the release of No Time to Die has been delayed yet again. MGM rocked the industry last year when it announced that the planned April release would be delayed as health and safety concerns around the globe continued to escalate. Now, as those same concerns continue to linger with no sign of slowing down in the immediate future, the studio has made the decision to push back Daniel Craig's final Bond movie once again.

The movie has been delayed several times already. It, most recently, was set to arrive on April 2. As confirmed on the official James Bond social media accounts, No Time to Die will now hit theaters on October 8, 2021. The poster, which highlights Daniel Craig's 007, came with the caption "No Time to Die October 8 2021." It had been predicted in recent weeks that such a move was imminent, given the current state of movie theaters. Currently, a large percentage of theaters in the U.S. are closed. As a result, the box office has continued to flounder.

That presents a challenge for a movie of this size. MGM and the distributors need a certain amount of money in return. No Time to Die is said to carry a production budget north of $200 million. Even though movies like Trolls World Tour and Bill and Ted Face the Music had relative success with cross-platform releases involving premium VOD rentals, a Bond movie simply can't make enough money that way. And a global, theatrical release in the current climate is certain to result in death on arrival. Given that Craig's previous four movies as the iconic MI6 spy grossed more than $3 billion combined at the box office, the decision to delay yet again was probably not a wise one, financially speaking.

Cari Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation) directed the movie. The cast includes Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Jeffrey Wright, Ben Whisaw and Naomie Harris. Lynch, it has been confirmed, will be playing the new 007, taking up the mantle in Bond's absence from MI6. Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek is on board to play the main villain, Safin.

In the meantime, MGM has wasted quite a bit of money marketing the movie up to this point. They've released several trailers, posters with previous dates and even aired a spot during last year's Super Bowl. That has, undoubtedly, been costly. For movie theaters, it's yet another blow they can ill-afford. With the box office doing so poorly, and more big movies set for the first half of 2021 expected to be delayed, they are hanging on by a thread. AMC, the largest theater chain in the U.S., has been fighting off bankruptcy for months in the hopes that the situation will improve. We'll be sure to keep you posted as any further details are made available. You can check out the poster from the official James Bond Twitter account.