Not quite Time to Die: Bond 25 postponed until November

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James Bond Stunt Coordinator, Lee Morrison rides a Scrambler 1200 on set 1 of 2

The new James Bond film, No Time to Die, has been postponed until November, presumably due to the on-going international COVID-19 'Coronavirus' outbreak.

Until today we've been expecting a premiere on 31 March and a general UK release on 2 April, but an announcement today from the film's producers, Eon Productions, on Twitter stated the film's release has been put back to the fourth quarter of 2020 "careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace".

While we haven't seen a statement specifying that COVID-19 is the cause of the film's delay, in the wake of the cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show this week due to a ban on large numbers of people congregating, it's fair to assume an international cinema launch would fall into the 'risky' camp.

See the full tweet below:

MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020. pic.twitter.com/a9h1RP5OKd — James Bond (@007) March 4, 2020

Scrambled but not stirred? New Bond poster shows Triumph Scrambler

First published 24 February 2020 by Gareth Evans

A new poster (displayed above) emerged over last weekend showing Daniel Craig riding a Triumph Scrambler 1200 while playing James Bond in the new film No Time to Die.

The bikes in the next Bond film:

While the perspective of the photography makes Craig look tiny compared with the bike, we already knew the Scrambler was set to be featured in the next installment of the 007 franchise.

Read on for our chat with the production's stunt coordinator, Lee Morrison, about the bikes and their role in No Time to Die, in the article below this.

No Time to Die UK release date

The 25th James Bond film No Time to Die is set for general release in UK cinemas on April 2, 2020 after a world premiere on March 31. It goes on general release in US theatres on April 10. It's directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and features Léa Seydoux alongside the famous fictional MI6 spy Bond, who was originally created by author Ian Flemming in 1952.

MCN talks Triumph Tiger with the man behind Bond bike stunts

First published 05 December 2019 by Ben Clarke

Triumph have revealed that two of their models will appear in the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, including a Scrambler 1200 ridden by Bond himself. Also featured is the all-new 2020 Triumph Tiger 900.

MCN spoke to the film’s stunt coordinator, Lee Morrison, to find out what the bikes went through during filming, how the decision was made to use the new Tiger 900 and what modifications the bikes needed to be up to the job.

"Once we knew that we were going to have bikes as part of the chase sequences for this film, we started looking at what models we liked," Morrison explained. "We thought we wanted the Tiger 800 but when we spoke to Triumph, they told us they had a new, lighter 900cc version in development that we could use under embargo. They brought it down for us to have a look at and we decided that definitely had to be one of our bikes.

"That was a prototype and so we started testing a few things out. There’s a chase sequence in the film with a lot of water involved and some river crossings so we wanted to make sure we could run them through water without any problems. Apart from that, everything was pretty much ready to go."

A few modifications needed to be made to make sure the bikes could be used safely so far out of their normal riding conditions. The suspension was stiffened up, a sump guard was added and the screen was swapped for a smaller unit to allow the stunt rider to get further forward over the bars in the air.

"We jumped the Tiger 140 feet to flat landing ten times and it sucked it up every time. We’d check it over, check the spokes, the Triumph mechanics would make sure everything was ok and then we’d do it again," Morrison said.

More than one Triumph model sees action in the film. "We modified Scramblers with stiffer springs on the rear and heavier springs on the front and we switched off all the rider aids and ABS but we jumped those too, and you’ll see that in the film."

Triumph aren’t the only manufacturer to feature in No Time to Die, either. A Norton Dominator SS featured in 2015’s instalment of Bond, Spectre, and Morrison confirmed that Norton appear once again in Q’s laboratory. There is also a chase set in Italy that uses a number of bikes including a Triumph Tiger 1200 and Ducati Scrambler.

The partnership with Bond was announced at an event at Triumph's Hinckley factory where the new Tiger was used to jump over a new Land Rover Defender, which will also appear.

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