The repeatedly delayed James Bond film, No Time to Die, may have to undergo reshoots due to its product placement of Nokia phones – which will be over two years out of date when the film is finally released in October.
The Bond franchise has a long history of product placement, from Aston Martin and Rolex to camera brands like Canon, Nikon and Olympus. And for No Time to Die, the filmmakers apparently have a deal in place to showcase the best camera phones from Nokia – including the Nokia 8.3 5G (although it has, at least, just received the latest Android 11 update).
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However, since the film was originally due to release in November 2019, those phones will be rather old hat upon the new October 2021 opening date (following successive delays due to the effect of the pandemic on cinema chains).
That's according to reports in British tabloid The Sun (by way of our colleagues at TechRadar), which has an unusually good reputation when it comes to scoops about Britain's favorite super spy.
"The details of the gadgets and things are all kept tightly under wraps, but everyone knows that James Bond always carries the latest kit with him," an inside source told the newspaper.
"The problem is that some of those things were the very latest models back when they started filming. But by the time the movie comes out now it will look like Daniel Craig and all of the other cast members are carrying something that has been out for ages. That isn’t really the point of these deals.
• Read more: James Bond-themed Leica Q2
"The big tech firms want the stars to have all the new up-and-coming products to help promote them and sell them to fans. It means some of the scenes are going to have to be very carefully edited and looked at to bring things up to date."
While Nokia is purported to be at the center of the issue, other big name brands – including Bollinger, Omega and Adidas – could also be factors in the rumored reshoot requirements.
In all, it's yet more bad news for the beleaguered Bond movie – especially since there's no guarantee that it will even meet its new October release date. And of course, camera collectors are still waiting for the similarly delayed Leica Q2 007 Limited Edition – though obviously that won't be appearing in the film itself!
Here's a final Bond fun fact: if No Time to Die gets pushed to 2022 (which could actually happen), it would coincide with the 60th anniversary of the first ever James Bond film, Dr No…
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