Booming James Bond: No Time To Die ticket sales lift shares in listed cinema chains
Shares in the UK’s biggest listed cinema chains surged on Monday morning amid booming ticket sales for Daniel Craig‘s final outing as 007.
Screen giant Cineworld, which also owns Picturehouse and Regal in the US, was up by as much as 10% this morning, while upmarket chain Everyman was up nearly 7%.
Odeon, whose owner AMC is listed in the US, announced today that No Time To Die is set to be its biggest film since summer 2019, with more than 175,000 tickets pre-sold within two weeks of release.
The Hollywood Reporter has cited several cinema owners as saying the movie is creating “by far and away the highest interest [in tickets] seen since pre-pandemic levels”.
Recent Bond blockbusters Skyfall and SPECTRE were the second and third-highest grossing UK box office slots in British cinema history. UK Cinema Association chief executive, Phil Clapp, recently told the Standard that operators’ anticipation for the latest installment’s long-delayed release – and its revenues – is “higher than ever”.
The fifth and final appearance of Craig as the iconic MI6 agent sees Bond come out of retirement to help an old friend from the CIA. The plot will see 007 led onto the trail of a mysterious, masked villain known only as Safin -played by Rami Malek -who is armed with dangerous tech.
The world premiere will take place on Tuesday at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with Craig and other stars in attendance.
It will screen widely from midnight on Wednesday.