Pre-Production on BOND 23 “Halted”

[Blowfeld]

Looks like 2012 is off the table.

by Jeff Ames Posted:January 5th, 2011 at 10:43 am

There has been much speculation regarding the next James Bond film (or Bond 23), especially after the near-demise of MGM. Recently, news broke that the company, having successfully filed for bankruptcy, had set its sights on a 2012 release date with a new Bond film to follow every other year. More importantly, director Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition) had been attached to direct the Quantum of Solace follow up, a rumor confirmed by the Academy Award-winning director’s wife Kate Winslet back in December.

Variety now reports, however, that pre-production on Bond 23 has been “halted” as the company awaits bids for its assets. A spokesman for the studio confirmed that scripting is still underway, but that the project’s timeline is “a little up in the air what with the situation at MGM, so we gave to be flexible.” Oddly enough, the article also states that no director is attached to the project. With star Daniel Craig actively pursuing other projects, including David Fincher’s adaptation of The Millenium Trilogy, and MGM in disarray, will Bond 23 ever see the living daylights?

http://collider.com/bond-23-halted-james-bond/68269/

[James]

The plot thickens.

[katied]

The plot thickens.

This. And if by some miracle Bond 23 happens, it won't be good-rushed, in every sense of the rule.And judging by some of the most recent pictures of Craig, he's going to need a lot of time at the gym to be in shape in time for Bond 23.

[Alessandra]

The plot thickens.

This. And if by some miracle Bond 23 happens, it won't be good-rushed, in every sense of the rule.And judging by some of the most recent pictures of Craig, he's going to need a lot of time at the gym to be in shape in time for Bond 23.

This is beyond bad. So now A)there's not a director attached to the project B)no script as Wilson himself confirmed nobody's working on it and was extremely vague about what type of work had ALREADY been done C) Flexible? Are you kidding me? It's 2011 already, do they want to have a Dalton-like hiatus? I'm mad. I really am, I want this to move QUICK so we can freaking get rid of Craig and move on to someone MUCH more appropriate for the role. Yes, Henry darling, I mean you. LOL.

ETA: I went to look for the direct Variety link but it's not working appropriately.

However, it DID come up in search on Variety:

MGM sale puts James Bond on ice
| Source: Variety Date: 7 hours 46 minutes ago
...8:03am PT MGM sale puts James Bond on ice Studio says pre- production halted on 23rd pic By Dave McNary... 'Quantum of Solace' Pre- production on the next James Bond film has been halted while MGM awaits...
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118013318?refCatId=13

BUT that's not available anymore because the story has been DENIED by MGM. This is the latest:

Posted: Tue., Jan. 5, 2010, 6:19pm PT
Will Sam Mendes direct Bond?
MGM has yet to confirm reports
By Dave McNary, Ali Jaafar
Sam Mendes

The long-running drama surrounding MGM's future took an odd turn Tuesday with rumors sweeping through the town about Sam Mendes directing next James Bond film.

The beleaguered studio refused to confirm reports about Mendes being in talks for the 23rd Bond pic. MGM also denied other reports that pre-production had been halted after producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli told Total Film magazine that the uncertainty surrounding the Lion's ownership had left the project's timeline "a little up in the air what with the situation at MGM, so we have to be flexible."

Speculation about Mendes as a Bond director has emerged in recent weeks, possibly due to his having directed Daniel Craig in "Road to Perdition." The last official announcement on the Bondpic came in June when Wilson, Broccoli and MGM disclosed Peter Morgan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade were writing the script for the film; Purvis and Wade previously worked on "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace." The Bond franchise is a major piece of MGM's assets, which include a 4,000-title library, the logo, the United Artists operations, rights to the Pink Panther franchise and half-ownership in the upcoming "Hobbit" films. The package, which could be sold piecemeal, is expected to fetch somewhere between $1.5 billion and $2 billion and the first bids are expected to be submitted by mid-January.

The Lion, which put itself up for sale Nov. 13, is believed to have loosened some of the restrictions in the non-disclosure agreements that potential bidders are required to sign, a source close to the process has indicated recently. It's been reported recently that News Corp. might not bid due to concerns over restrictions in the NDA.

Reps for possible bidders Time Warner, News Corp. and Lionsgate have refused to comment.

The beleaguered studio has left open the door to continue operating as a standalone entity or forming some kind of strategic partnership if MGM's 140 debtholders agree to do so, possibly through a prepackaged bankruptcy.

Mendes' most recent pics were in the specialty realm with "Away We Go" and "Revolutionary Road." He's attached to direct comicbook series "Preacher" for Sony. Focus Features inked a first-look deal last year with Mendes and Neal Street Prods., the company the helmer partners with Pippa Harris and Caro Newling, and that includes two projects that could be potential directing vehicles for Mendes: "Butcher's Crossing," an epic adventure based on the 1960 revisionist Western novel by John Williams and an adaptation of George Eliot's "Middlemarch," set in the early 1830s.

He also recently directed a season of the Bridge Project, a series of theater co-productions by BAM, the Old Vic and Neal Street.

Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

NOW the plot thickens. Broccoli and Wilson go ON THE RECORD with a magazine, with quote, and then MGM denies? this is a freaking MESS! And there's nothing good about it. Situation must be very bad. On the bright side, as I have said, clearly Broccoli doesn't have nearly as much power as she did before, if the freaking studio denies a quote from her publicly. This shall get interesting in terms of war between them. Pass the popcorn... I'm actually not happy about it ONE freaking bit, other than the fact Broccoli has less power. Just d**n, I want this over and done with!! Do this freaking Bond 23 movie and let's all move on.

[Mazer Rackham]

The war of personalities has started already! Remarkable! No secret that Craig has put himself on the market, what did people think he was doing when he signed up for possibly 3 trilogies. Brozza kept his schedule open, maybe it was his mistake although it shows different mindset behind their approaching the job.

Looking at the latest Variety it seems they are a bit miffed most of the info is very out of date.

[Alessandra]

The war of personalities has started already! Remarkable! No secret that Craig has put himself on the market, what did people think he was doing when he signed up for possibly 3 trilogies. Brozza kept his schedule open, maybe it was his mistake although it shows different mindset behind their approaching the job.

Looking at the latest Variety it seems they are a bit miffed most of the info is very out of date.

Brosnan had an attachment and an "inclination" for the role that Craig never had and never will have. He's made it abundantly clear that this is just another role for him. Frankly with the situation, he did well committing to something else. I wouldn't let my career hang by a thread with these people, ESPECIALLY NOT after what they did to Brosnan. And since Craig is the one who took over, I'm pretty sure he's very well aware of it.

LOL! The war of personalities really is shaping up to be terrible. If they're already contradicting each other publicly at THIS stage, one can only imagine what goes on behind the scenes Well, not that I don't know a few things about what happened back with CR, and things weren't exactly.. easy shall we say? Looks like things are setting up to be even worse this round. At least that time around they didn't publicly fight.

The Variety stuff is from today though... they had MGM's responses today, which means A) it is far from certain that Mendes is the director and B)well, hopefully the movie isn't halted, but on the other hand clearly things aren't good between MGM and the Broccolis. Enter THIRD partner to take care of 50% of production. Which will make things, hmm... interesting, since pretty surely the third one will side with MGM and not with the Broccolis? And that's all fine and dandy, except it complicates and may delay things further. Man... this is SO not good. Sigh.

[Mazer Rackham]

Except all of this is last years quibbling, back when Babs was actively encouraging other studios to bid for MGM thus Bond. I don't think the war of personalities (Babs vs. The World) has started yet but it will as soon as the funds are being hashed out which is another 5 or more months away.

[Alessandra]

Except all of this is last years quibbling, back when Babs was actively encouraging other studios to bid for MGM thus Bond. I don't think the war of personalities (Babs vs. The World) has started yet but it will as soon as the funds are being hashed out which is another 5 or more months away.

Ohhh wait. I was out of the loop last year so I wasn't aware Babs had her claws all over this?

What I meant is that the quote from MGM is FRESH. As in, today's quote. I'm saying this as a journalist, knowing. What happened was A)they ran the story saying production was halted, and had the quote from Broccoli and Wilson, and credited the magazine with the interview B)MGM denied the story after they called them (it's standard procedure for serious journalists to call the counterpart and ask for a comment), and the first story was removed and replaced with a second version, that was this one. And this is all very well documented for those who aren't familiar with the process. They published the first story (and I had summary and link above, per Variety's search), then killed it and published a second one, in order to avoid a so-called "correct", which means having to publicly admit "sorry what I just said was BS". They weren't very smart in handling though from a journalistic standpoint. They should have kept their original story and simply add to it "MGM denies the movie is halted". IF they didn't do that it can only mean that they found out production is actually NOT halted (or the editor chickened out), so they couldn't afford to have a wrong story out. This is Variety, they're not monkeys, they're serious and possibly the most reputable media outlet in entertainment news. This happening to them means things are beyond messed up. Babs and Wilson babble without asking MGM what the party line is first, and then this happens. Clearly MGM CANNOT afford to have statements like that out because of the situation they are in. So nobody knows what the actual truth is. And if the sites that shall not be mentioned go for it like "oh no it's not true and MGM said so" when they kiss Babs' and Wilson's ass the rest of the time, well then I'm gonna have a good big laugh at that. This is further proof that the situation is a HUGE mess.

And wait, you even have an ETA for the funds being released? Do you mean them having a new partner or something else? (I'm not protesting what you said at all, I'm interested! ) Because the funds they need are from the 50% partner. The loan, they already have? Are you talking about the new partner? Or are you just talking about them being out of bankruptcy for good?

[Captain Nash]

All good things to those who wait.
I tend not to get to engrossed in all this behind the scenes crapola. EON and MGM are at loggerheads with each other. Bond 23 is halted...again. Craig looking at other franchises.
It's tiresome, whether you're for or against Craig as Bond.
Personally I just let what happens happen, and wait untill a confirmed start date, cast and crew are announced.
Then wait for the film to arrive, trying to discover what kind of a film we might be in for.
With CR it was a pleasant surprise. With QOS, it was the opposite. That damned shaky cam.
D@MN YOU FORSTER!

[oscartheman]

Not surprised by any of this.The confusion surrounding Bond since 2002 is enormous they do not know what they are doing and change their minds regularly.Nobody can keep up and the rumors go unchecked.

[Kristatos]

It's a pity that EON doesn't have a website and MGM's website no longer has a section for press releases, otherwise we could get Word of God on this story and not have to rely on second-hand media reports. The truth might not be any clearer if EON says one thing and MGM another, but at least we'd know the statements were official and recent, and not the result of some lazy journalist dredging up a 6-month-old story in order to fill space.

[Alessandra]

It's a pity that EON doesn't have a website and MGM's website no longer has a section for press releases, otherwise we could get Word of God on this story and not have to rely on second-hand media reports. The truth might not be any clearer if EON says one thing and MGM another, but at least we'd know the statements were official and recent, and not the result of some lazy journalist dredging up a 6-month-old story in order to fill space.

I would agree completely if this was News of the World or some tabloid reporting this. But it is Variety. They are a serious and reputable news outlet. If they publish something today, the story and the quotes are from today. And it's not a matter of simply toying around with the public that would prevent them to publish stuff that isn't actual news, it's a matter of being a reputable news source and of other journalists KNOWING if they rehashed something that is from 6 months ago. If Variety, or Bloomberg (on Bloomberg obviously I can say for sure since I know how it works) has a story with a quote from today, the stuff is from today.

Reputable news outlets are always very careful in reporting what is stated in press releases AND call the company in question for comment and for clarifications on parts that appear unclear. Especially in the situation MGM is NOBODY can make statements like "production halted" etc lightly, because there are financial implications and legal consequences for a journalist that reports wrongful facts when finance is involved. Calling for comment is exactly what Variety did, that's . The call resulted in a "your first story is BS", and as I said they handled that poorly in that they should have kept the original story AND added the MGM side of it. Except they also found out about Mendes in the meantime, and clearly thought that was bigger news, hence the title, and the editor for whatever reason decided to remove the first story and add a new one. Again, not a wise decision and not a "ballsy" one, but it still doesn't make what they said old. If it was some stupid tabloid, I'd definitely have my doubts. But not with Variety. They have very hard-earned prestige and reputation, they would never publish something that is 6 months old as today's news, especially when it's about keeping things current as far as production for a movie is involved, and with a bankruptcy situation involving the production company.

I think what happened just shows once again that the situation is a complete mess. When not even MGM and EON can agree on a party line, things are just as messed up as they can be. And apparently Mendes has to be Babs's choice, since MGM denied his involvement in Bond 23. Which means no director then? Again, if production isn't halted and they don't even have a director, things are even worse off than they seemed to be. Point is, nobody's telling the whole truth, neither MGM nor EON, so until an official statement is made about it, we have no way of knowing where exactly things stand (well, unless we have very good sources )

[Captain Nash]

All good things to those who wait.
I tend not to get to engrossed in all this behind the scenes crapola. EON and MGM are at loggerheads with each other. Bond 23 is halted...again. Craig looking at other franchises.
It's tiresome, whether you're for or against Craig as Bond.
Personally I just let what happens happen, and wait untill a confirmed start date, cast and crew are announced.
Then wait for the film to arrive, trying to discover what kind of a film we might be in for.
With CR it was a pleasant surprise. With QOS, it was the opposite. That damned shaky cam.
D@MN YOU FORSTER!

See.
Didn't have to wait long did we.
For us Craig fans it's welcome news. And more Bond is good for any Bond fan.
For the non- Craig fans, well, it just means he's one film closer to making no more.

Everyone's a winner.

[Thunderpussy]

Very well put Cpt Nash with Bond 23 we are All winners.

[English Agent]

All these 'its on' or 'its off' media rumours for Bond 23 are very annoying.

Personally i think the film is 'green lit' as stated by the BBC recently, but i can imagine the wheels turning slowly on pre-production, mainly due in which way the film should go story and direction wise, particularly after the result of the last dismal film.

I remember someone once quoted 'that the Bond franchise was director proof'.........well it was uptil Bond 22.

Marc Forster said 'he wanted QOS to be fast and confusing'.........well he succeeded there..........except very few people went along with his vision.

EA

[Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry]

I've given up on ever having a new non-Craig Bond movie to watch.

[FormerBondFan]

I've given up on ever having a new non-Craig Bond movie to watch.

Switch to Harry Potter.

[Captain Nash]

I've given up on ever having a new non-Craig Bond movie to watch.

Switch to Harry Potter.

Why not have BOTH?
Craig Bond era will end...eventually.
When that might be NOBODY knows for sure. Crystal balls around here have been found to be...Well about as reliable as Sybil Trelawney's fortune telling.

[Mazer Rackham]

All these 'its on' or 'its off' media rumours for Bond 23 are very annoying.

Personally i think the film is 'green lit' as stated by the BBC recently, but i can imagine the wheels turning slowly on pre-production, mainly due in which way the film should go story and direction wise, particularly after the result of the last dismal film.

I remember someone once quoted 'that the Bond franchise was director proof'.........well it was uptil Bond 22.

Marc Forster said 'he wanted QOS to be fast and confusing'.........well he succeeded there..........except very few people went along with his vision.

EA

It was director proof when they stuck to the formula, the reason Cubby came up with the formula in the first place. It could have gone off the rails at anytime when they decided to allow the director a completely free hand.

[Kristatos]

I've given up on ever having a new non-Craig Bond movie to watch.

Switch to Harry Potter.

Not a long-term solution, considering there's only one movie left in that series.