New james bond put on hold

The world’s most evil villains can’t stop him, but James Bond is in big trouble for the most mundane of reasons – a lack of cash.

Development of the new James Bond film has been suspended indefinitely, the film’s producers confirmed yesterday, because of uncertainty over the future of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio. The new unnamed movie, which will be the 23rd in the series based on the Ian Fleming hero, had been due for release in 2011 or 2012, to coincide with the franchise’s 50th anniversary.

Daniel Craig was set to play 007, the spy with a licence to kill, for the third time, in the role first taken up by Sean Connery and subsequently by George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. But Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the producers of the Bond movies, said in a joint statement: “Due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of the studio, we have suspended development on Bond 23 indefinitely.”

Wilson and Broccoli said they do not know when development of the film will resume and when it will be released.

Craig, who is on location in Toronto, Canada, filming Dream House, with Rachel Weisz, said: “I have every confidence in Barbara and Michael’s decision and look forward to production resuming as quickly as possible.”

James Bond is easily MGM’s most profitable franchise. The 22 James Bond movies are third in the list of most successful film franchises, according to the website Box Office Mojo.

The last film in the series, 2008’s Quantum of Solace, made $586m (£381.6m) worldwide. The 2006 movie Casino Royale, which unveiled Craig as the new leaner, meaner Bond, took in $594m.

Sam Mendes, who directed American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, was expected to direct the next James Bond outing, working from a screenplay by The Queen’s Peter Morgan and regular Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. But according to the US trade papers, Mendes had not signed on the dotted line, and his involvement must now be in doubt.

There is no doubt that – in an echo of the famous phrase which often closed out the credits on 007 films – Bond will return, but the question is who will be his paymaster. MGM is struggling with a $3.7bn debt, and has released just one film this year. Efforts to raise finance through a sale of the studio have so far proved fruitless, with rival firms so far making only tentative bids. Its lenders are pushing for “either a sale of the company or a restructuring with an infusion of capital to remain a stand-alone operation”, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Sony, which co-distributed the last two films, would appear to be an obvious candidate to buy MGM, but has not made a public bid. Those companies that have include Lionsgate and Time Warner, which put a $1.5bn offer on the table, but MGM is belived to be holding out for an offer of at least $2bn. It will be several weeks before its fate becomes clear.