Coronavirus Hitting Where It Hurts: Delaying Baby Yoda Toys and New Bond Film

It's dark times.

With coronavirus cases being confirmed in more and more countries around the world, leaders are putting restrictions in place to stop the spread of the disease. 

Schools have been closed in Italy, and football games in the country will be played without an audience until 3 April. There are talks of postponing the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to the end of the year, and Australia has added South Korea to their travel ban list. 

Coronavirus has also led to decreased production for many companies, with Aussies panic-buying toilet paper amid concerns that supply will run out.

Now, COVID-19 is also having also having a significant impact on the world of entertainment.

While Baby Yoda toys were supposed to be arriving in stores in April, Hasbro has admitted they're experiencing production difficulties relating to the coronavirus outbreak in China. 

"The occurrence of these types of events can result, and in the case of the coronavirus has resulted in, disruptions and damage to our business, caused by both the negative impact to our ability to design, develop, manufacture and ship product (the supply side impact) and the negative impact on consumer purchasing behavior (the demand side impact)," the SEC filing states. 

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— Santana Jade (@SantanaJade) March 5, 2020

Unfortunately for people who pre-ordered the merchandise, there's been no word as to when the Baby Yoda toys will actually arrive.

Additionally, it's also been announced that the upcoming James Bond film No Time To Die won't be landing in theatres this April. While it was slated to hit Aussie cinemas on 8 April 2020, it will now arrive in November. No Aussie release date has been revealed yet, but it's now set for 12 November in the UK and 25 November in the US. 

In a statement, MGM, Eon and Universal said the decision was made "after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace."

The move comes as a result of predictions that coronavirus could hurt the global box office. Between 24 January and 23 February, only $US4.2 million worth of tickets were sold, as opposed to the $US1.76 billion sold during the same time frame last year.

It raises the question: will other films like Black Widow be impacted as well?

Of course, the health of fans around the globe is far more valuable. As a Bond fan group wrote in an open letter, "It's just a movie. The health and well-being of fans around the world, and their families, is more important."

I understand the final action sequence in "No Time To Die" involves James Bond in hand-to-hand combat with an Australian supermarket shopper over a 4-pack of toilet paper.#ToiletPaperApocalypse #toiletpapercrisis

— Byron Kaye (@byronkaye) March 4, 2020

Header Image: Disney+ & YouTube (James Bond 007)