Awesome news - chances of Daniel Craig doing all 5 of his contractual movies? Very good. I would expect this to start filming later next year for a November 2012 release.
http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=9040&t=mi6&s=news
I knew there was no way they would miss 2012. Just another layer of marketing they can add by releasing on the 50th anniversary of Dr. No.
The wheels of production are starting to spin up again at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who filed for pre-packaged bankruptcy in Manhattan federal court after rejecting a takeover bid by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and billionaire Carl Icahn.
MGM plans to spend as much as $125 million on operations in the next 15 weeks. MGM said its has already spent $20 million to fund production of films based on J.R.R. Tolkiens novel, The Hobbit, in a co-production deal with Time Warner Inc.s New Line Cinema, and may need to spend more. Three films based on The Lord of the Rings, the sequel to Hobbit, grossed about $3 billion at the box office worldwide, MGM said to Bloomberg.
New James Bond films may be released every second year starting in November 2012, MGM said. It aims to own 50 percent of Bond 23, due out that year, with an equal partner paying all of the production costs, it said. Later Bond movies would be wholly owned and funded by MGM, the company said.
Two potential suitors for Bond 23 financing and distribution are Paramount and Sony.
Spyglass chiefs Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, who will be taking charge of production at MGM as part of the restructuring deal, are close to Paramount who co-funded the smash-hit "Star Trek" reboot.
Sony distributed the last two James Bond outings under the agreement reached when the company was part of the consortium that took over MGM in 2005. It now owns a 14% stake. Sony have made it public that they would love to be involved again, but it looks like a bidding war between rival distributors will be taking place before Bond 23 is officially green-lit.
2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the EON Productions series of James Bond films. It would be the first time a Bond movie has been released in a year ending in '2' since the debut outing "Dr No" in 1962. Assuming Daniel Craig honours his contract for a third film, it would also be the longest gap between Bond movies without a change in the lead role.
http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=9040&t=mi6&s=news
I knew there was no way they would miss 2012. Just another layer of marketing they can add by releasing on the 50th anniversary of Dr. No.