James Bond may finally break free of MGM’s cellar after the studio’s ongoing financial woes saw his next movie outing shoved where the sun don't shine.
Now that MGM have officially filed for bankruptcy, they’re free to start planning what they’re going to do with Bond 23 – and what they want is a new movie in cinemas by November 2012.
Which gives them two years to resurrect the series, and ensure the next Bond film makes enough money to put dinner on their table for a very long time to come.
How are they going to do it? The Financial Times has all the ins and outs of the money side, but essentially MGM will own the rights of Bond 23 while another studio will fund the budget. Then, from Bond 24 onwards the series will be “wholly owned and funded” by MGM.
So will Daniel Craig and director Sam Mendes come back now that MGM are seeing rainbows again?
Neither have ever officially sworn off the project, and by all accounts Mendes had a script he was working on with Peter Morgan. Craig could yet don that tux again, then...
