New Bond Film To Arrive Every Two Years After That
We’ll try and keep the boring economics of this to minimum because it makes us fall asleep too, but MGM recently officially filed for bankruptcy and began restructuring proceedings that will put the legendary studio back into the business of making movies. As you already know, the first film out of the gate is the long-delayed and highly anticipated “The Hobbit” that will begin filming in February, but it looks like the other massive MGM franchise, the ‘James Bond‘ series, will be headed back to the big screen sooner than we thought.
Bloomberg reports (via MovieWeb) that MGM’s post-bankruptcy plans are very big indeed. They aim to have the next installment of the ‘James Bond’ series in theaters in November 2012, arriving one month before “The Hobbit” and marking one hell of a comeback, one-two punch for the studio. However, it’s not a slam dunk just yet. The studio will be seeking a partner to fund the film (MGM will retain the rights) and if all goes according to plan, future installments will arrive every two years and will be fully bankrolled and wholly owned by the studio. It’s certainly an ambitious plan but not without precedence; Bond films did arrive every two years up until the ’90s when longer gaps appeared with the longest one marked by the six-year distance between 1989’s “License To Kill” and 1995’s “Goldeneye.”
Of course, at this point, it’s too early to tell if Sam Mendes, long attached to the picture, will sit in the director’s chair or if the increasingly busy Daniel Craig will once again return (he certainly would love to come back). But it should be noted that back in September reports surfaced that “Bond 23” would go in front of cameras in the fall of 2011 and certainly, that timeline could definitely work.
There’s no word yet from EON Productions, the production company that has been behind every Bond film to date and suspended the project earlier this year due to MGM’s financial woes. But with MGM now rising back up, we wouldn’t be surprised if those conversations are beginning to happen again.
It would definitely make sense that MGM wants to come out of the gate quick and strong and its certainly a no-brainer to have their two biggest moneymakers lead the charge.
