Were the rumors of James Bond’s death — the next James Bond film that is — greatly exaggerated? While ‘Bond 23’ (it’s defacto working title) has been delayed indefinitely, insiders tell Deadline that not much has changed since last time — MGM still has massive debt issues, that will include a a pre-packaged bankruptcy before financial restructuring, and the picture won’t be moving forward until that’s figured out (unlike “The Hobbit” which could still manage to power through via Warner Bros. and New Line if MGM can’t figure its shit out).
The trade says other studios do hunger to get their mitts on the rights to the Bond franchise, MGM is on no deadline like they are with “The Hobbit” which had already announced a Christmas 2012 release (one of the conditions for Peter Jackson potentially signing on as director is that those dates are not pushed and the film shoots later this year).
Basically, the Deadline piece is just a refutation one and they say director Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig will simply wait for the situation to get sorted out (Spyglass and or Summit are expected to eventually steer the studio). Both key talents have moved on in the meantime. Craig is starring in Jon Favreau’s “Cowboys & Aliens” this summer and will likely play the lead in David Fincher’s English-language version of the “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” (we’ve been told the deal’s almost done and he’s pretty much locked in). Mendes on the other hand will helm a feature adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel “On Chesil Beach,” potentially with Carey Mulligan in the lead.