Bond 22 unaffected by writers strike says distributor Columbia

Fears that production of the 22nd James Bond film may have hit a snag with the current Writers Guild of America strike, especially given that scribe Paul Haggis said the script for Daniel Craig's second outing as 007 still needed polish, have been allayed by Columbia Pictures today.

The Sony Corp.-owned film distributor said that the next James Bond film, which is a tent-pole release for Columbia, will not be affected by the strike - reports Reuters.

Elsewhere though, there was bad news for other projects as it postponed production on "Angels & Demons," a prequel to its box-office hit "The Da Vinci Code" starring Tom Hanks. The planned release date for the Ron Howard-directed religious thriller, originally set to open during the 2008 holiday season, has been pushed back to 2009.

"With the strike nearing its third week, Columbia Pictures has postponed production of 'Angels & Demons'," the studio said in a statement, adding that the script by Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldman needed further work.

Goldman, a member of the Writers Guild of America, is barred by the WGA's strike rules from editing or polishing scripts for the duration of the walkout.

In addition to his work on "Da Vinci Code," Goldman's writing credits include boxing drama "Cinderella Man" and "A Beautiful Mind," for which he won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

"While the filmmakers and the studio feel the screenplay is very strong, we do not believe it is the fully realized production draft required of this ambitious project," Columbia said. "At this time, there is no new start date, but we are setting a release date of May 15, 2009."

The Writers Guild went on strike against major film and TV studios on November 5 after negotiations on a new contract for its 12,000 members reached an impasse in a dispute over higher fees the union is seeking from Internet revenues.

The strike immediately threw the television industry into disarray, as work on numerous late-night talk shows and prime-time comedies and dramas ground to a halt.

"Angels & Demons" marks the first major Hollywood film set for release in 2008 to be delayed by the walkout.

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