With news that MGM is merging with Spyglass Entertainment, rumors are beginning to spread like wildfire that in addition to “The Hobbit” that production could now ramp up on the next Bond movie.
Some outlets were reporting that MGM would like to get a new Bond film out by 2012.
Unfortunately, that may not happen.
While MGM has found a way to finance the Bond flick, there are still a lot of other factors in play. Most of them have to do with the availability of the current Bond and the next director. Sam Mendes, who is set to direct, is working on several projects for the BBC and might not be available to direct a Bond flick for release in 2012. And actor Daniel Craig has scored a high profile role in the upcoming American adaptation of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and is signed on for the two sequels. That could keep him busy for a while.
There’s also an issue of who would distribute the movie. Sony Pictures distributed the last two but the rights have lapsed which could further delay things.
So what does all this mean to the world’s most famous secret agent?
Odds are we won’t see Bond on the silver screen again until at least 2014.
Maybe a few years is what we need. The movie reviewer on the Escapist Magazine did a segment about the Bond series and how it reflected the times. We should ask ourselves if maybe it’s best to end the series completely instead of dragging it on and on. Bond used to be about the girls, gadgets, and some extravagant scheme that’s too complicated to be realistic. Times have changed and that sort of thing is closer to that of cheezy sci-fi movies MST3K riffed than anything.
The Bond series needs to decide what it wants to be and be that with gusto. Otherwise you’re just using the name to sell tickets and that’s not right.