As of: 09/28/2021 1:13 p.m.
Not only the long starving cinemas are hoping for a huge boost for their business from the new James Bond film “No Time to Die”. The marketing machinery surrounding the film knows hardly any limits.
It is standard that James Bond saves the world against all odds. This time, however, more than ever before, one industry wants to be saved by 007: the film industry and, above all, the movie theaters. The cinema operators are betting that the new Bond blockbuster “No Time to Die” will attract the masses to the cinemas and bring the number of visitors back to pre-Corona levels.
After the long lockdowns, the cinemas are deep in the red, the super agent is supposed to bring about the turning point. Tim Richards, founder and head of VUE Cinemas, is thrilled that Bond is finally launching after a year and a half delay. “We’re back, we’re back as an industry,” says Richards. “And the fact that a big film like Bond has been waiting so long speaks volumes about the importance of our industry. We need each other: the studios need us, and we need the studios.”
A billion dollars in revenue?
After the corona lockdown, the audience wanted “to get out of home, people want to watch a film like this with others without being interrupted by the Amazon parcel service,” said the cinema entrepreneur. Olli Challiner from Everyman Cinema also confirms the great importance of the Bond film for the cinemas and tells what everything is planned around the agent thriller: There will be themed cocktails, parties, many performances, even at midnight, everything is very exciting .
No question about it: James Bond is big business. The cost of producing “No Time to Die” is estimated at $ 250 million. At the same time, the producers are apparently hoping for revenues of around one billion US dollars. Funds flow in many ways in bond productions, including sponsorship and product placements. Bond films present expensive branded products, from Aston Martin to the latest yacht model from Spirit Yachts, to Bollinger champagne, designer suits from Tom Ford and Omega watches.
A well-known car model, prominently staged: which products can be seen in the film for how long is contractually regulated.
Image: Fabio Dell’Aquila via REUTERS
In the two and a half minute film trailer alone, Bond’s wristwatch can be seen several times, an “Omega Seamaster Diver 300M 007 edition” for 9,000 euros. The contracts regulate which products may be in the picture for how long. “Casino Royale”, the 2006 James Bond film, clearly showed how aggressively James Bond films are advertised. It was then that Vesper asked Lynd – the woman Bond fell madly in love with – if he was wearing a Rolex. “Omega,” replies Bond. Then she: “Beautiful.”
Secret agent as a watch model
Omega has been the official sponsor of Bond’s wristwatches since 1995, but 2006 viewers should be reminded of that. Daniel Craig, who is now celebrating his last appearance as Bond, was supposedly allowed to make design suggestions for the current model. And when the watch was presented at a party in New York, Craig was asked as a guest star about the importance of Bond’s watches.
Against this background, it is not surprising what the “Sun” reported at the beginning of the year: that individual film scenes had to be edited again or even shot again because the branded products on display no longer corresponded to the latest model after all the delays due to Corona. But that is exactly what the sponsors want to advertise in the film. The marketing machinery knows hardly any limits. In London, various high-end boutiques and shopping malls have completely wrapped themselves in 007 designs to advertise their products. As I said, Bond is also big business.
Economic factor bond – product placement and blockbuster
Imke Köhler, ARD London, September 28, 2021 11:27 a.m.