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With MGM emerging from bankruptcy proceedings, the
wheels of production appear to be starting to turn
again
for Bond 23... |
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Bond 23 - December Report
3rd December 2010
After a long drawn out and very public process,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer confirmed
yesterday that
a federal bankruptcy court has approved
a
prepackaged
bankruptcy
plan in which its lenders will exchange nearly $5 billion in
debt for ownership of the company that owns 50% of the James
Bond franchise and is responsible for half of "The
Hobbit" movies. The two-part series is to go into production
in February, and MGM confirmed last month that the 23rd
007 adventure was being lined
up for a November 2012 release.
Approval by the U.S. bankruptcy court in New
York clears the way for MGM to implement its plan by the middle
of the month and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
quickly. The company has largely determined
its board of directors, according to bankruptcy filings. Spyglass
Entertainment's Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum will become co-CEOs
and will be joined on the board three members
from lenders Highland Capital
Management
LP, Solus Alternative Asset Management
LP and Anchorage Capital Group LLC; former MySpace co-president
Jason Hirschhorn; and former CBS Corp. chief financial officer
Fred Reynolds. Two board seats have not yet been determined. Solus'
seat will be occupied by its president, Christopher Pucillo,
who was the
pick of major debtholder Carl Icahn. The billionaire investor
agreed to back the restructuring but may still seek to combine
MGM with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., a studio in which he
also holds a large stake.
With the smoke clearing from the MGM fiasco,
several people connected with the next James Bond production
are starting to comment on the project's status. A couple
of weeks ago, Jeffrey Wright - who has played Felix Leiter
in the last two movies - said "things seem to be moving in the
right
direction, although sideways at times. It seems to be heading
toward some resolution."
A day before MGM's plan was approved, five-times
007 composer David Arnold revealed that wheels
were starting to turn again Bond 23 after being put on indefinite
hold by producers earlier in the year. "We only just got the
news that we’re
back on. But ‘there’s many a slip twixt cup and lip’ So
I will keep quiet until I get a script and then start writing
ideas," Arnold said. "I just hope the next one is as good as
my favourites, as I think everyone does. And I’m always
interested in what Daniel Craig brings to the part. But like
most things
with
movies,
if it ain’t on the page etc… All I can say is that
I’m looking forward to a great script for it, alongside
every other Bond fan in the world!""
Today, Kate
Winslet revealed she plans to move back in with her ex-husband Sam Mendes, and
that
the director is still on for helming the 23rd James Bond film
now that the MGM is emerging from bankruptcy. "Sam is doing
the next Bond film, all being well, and we’ll
all be in England if that happens. It’s such a massive
commitment for him and it’s not fair for him to commute
backwards and forwards to New York from London. It
would be impossible. The children will be there with me." The
Daily Mail reported that Mendes was scheduled to direct Bond 23
"some time
towards
the
end of
next
year, with the production likely to be based, as usual, at Pinewood
film studios".
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2012 marks the 50th
anniversary of the EON Productions series of James Bond
films. Assuming Daniel Craig honours his contract for
a
third film, it would be the longest gap between Bond
movies without a change in the lead role.
With both the "Batman" and "Spider-Man" franchises
duking it out at the 2012 summer box-office, there is little
chance of Bond 23 being pulled forward. The release schedule
around the holiday season in 2012 is light, with the only
two major releases ("Monsters, Inc. 2" and "The
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II") penciled in
for November 2012. |
