MGM Aims To Have ëBond 23í In Theaters In November 2012
Weíll 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 ìThe Hobbitî that will begin filming in February, but it looks like the other massive MGM franchise, the ëJames Bondí series, will be headed back to the big screen sooner than we thought.
Bloomberg reports (via MovieWeb) that MGMís post-bankruptcy plans are very big indeed. They aim to have the next installment of the ëJames Bondí series in theaters in November 2012, arriving one month before ìThe Hobbitî and marking one hell of a comeback, one-two punch for the studio. However, itís 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. Itís certainly an ambitious plan but not without precedence; Bond films did arrive every two years up until the ë90s when longer gaps appeared with the longest one marked by the six-year distance between 1989ís ìLicense To Killî and 1995ís ìGoldeneye.î
Of course, at this point, itís too early to tell if Sam Mendes, long attached to the picture, will sit in the directorís 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 ìBond 23î would go in front of cameras in the fall of 2011 and certainly, that timeline could definitely work.
Thereís 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 MGMís financial woes. But with MGM now rising back up, we wouldnít 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.
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