Cinemas in China limited to 2 hour movies hampering 'No Time To Die' release

20-Jul-2020 • No Time To Die

Share the Story

Of all the years to try and release the longest James Bond film ever made...

China, the world's second-largest cinema market, started to re-open this weekend under strict conditions. The limitations will prove an issue for MGM & United Artists as 'No Time To Die' has a small snag with run time.

Here are some of the official regulations affecting cinemas in China:

• At most, 30% of the seats in a theater can be sold for each screening. Moviegoers who are strangers to each other should keep a distance of at least one meter. Those who do not wear masks or with a body temperature above 37.3 degrees Celsius will not be admitted into the theaters.
• The overall number of screenings per venue should be held at half the previous normal daily level. No snacks and beverages are allowed to be sold or consumed on the premises.
• No film should be screened for more than two hours, which could mean the films whose running time is more than this length will not be screened at this time, or, filmmakers and producers can edit them down to the required limit.

'No Time To Die' has a run time of 2 hours 43 minutes.

Unless conditions in China change, a release of 'No Time To Die' would require a brutal edit down to 2 hours. Takings would be likely reduced due to the 30% capacity limits.

China shut down all the cinemas on January 23rd for fear of cluster infections in confined venues due to the COVID-19 outbreak. China's film industry has since fallen silent and been struggling in a long winter, while thousands of movie companies and cinemas went bankrupt and closed down forever.