Whoops. A bit of a snag for the Bond franchise? Sounds like it.
007 star Daniel Craig himself said shooting on “Bond 23” (its working title) would commence at the end of 2010, but new reports suggest otherwise.
“Bond 23” writer Peter Morgan recently said that pre-production was put on hold until February, and fansite M16 (via Anne Thompson) says because of MGM’s various and well-documented money problems — i.e., pending the resolution of distributor MGM’s sale — Bond producers are unsure when the project will actually shoot.
M16 has transcribed a quote from TotalFilm that is not online where the producers (Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli) say, “Well, our timeline’s a little up in the air what with the situation at MGM, so we have to be flexible. We just don’t know enough about the situation to comment, but we know it’s uncertain.”
Apparently the state of the script and story is still in the early stages as well. “Well… we’ve hired the writers and we’ve been working with them but it’s just too early to say anything,” Michael Wilson told TotalFilm. “You know, often at this stage, I find myself saying, ‘Oh, we’re gonna do this and that’, then six months from now you’ll say, ‘That isn’t in the film at all – you told me it was…’ I think we’re at the stage where a lot of ideas are floating around that sound very good, but whether they make the final cut, who knows?”
Writer Peter Morgan (“The Queen,” “The Deal,” Clint Eastwood’s upcoming, “Hereafter”) recently hinted that Bond 23 would contain a “shocking story,” which has led to a lot of speculation, but not a lot of concrete facts (as long as no one’s around to give Bond a baby, we’re fine).
If the producers are now claiming the script is still in the very inchoate stages, maybe it won’t be so shocking? Who knows, but yes, it sounds like “Bond 23” might not shoot at the end of the year. But if they do get it together in time, anything’s possible.
No official director has been announced for the project either.