Brian Damage
07-07-2010, 10:33 AM
With every new James Bond, it reaches a point where audiences lose interest and the franchise restarts. I didn't think we'd reach that point with Daniel Craig for a long, long time, because audiences seem to love him and there's a different storyline (starting with his origin in Casino Royale). The latest movie, Bond 23, was set to be directed by Oscar winner Sam Mendes (of American Beauty, Away We Go) from a script by Oscar nominated writer Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon). We already knew it was delayed because of MGM's ongoing financial troubles, but we're now receiving word that the entire thing has been canceled.
This news comes mainly from Harry at AICN and the UK's Mirror (both via The Playlist). Harry Knowles says that "apparently all development on the next James Bond flick is dead. They've actually ****ed MGM up so much that right now, they've canned development of a new James Bond film." Oh I know, it's very sad. Mirror confirms: "Members of the production crew have been told the Bond film has been canned. There is a lot of bad feeling as a lot of time, money and hard work has already gone into this." Apparently this is not just another delay, it sounds like MGM is canceling all projects in development until they figure out how to get back into the moviemaking business, which may be never (if things keep going the same way they are).
The big question now is if this also means the end of Daniel Craig as James Bond. No one really knows how long Craig's contract runs or how many films he was signed to be in, but I'm sure MGM is pulling some crazy tricks in order to cancel any and everything, and that could include Craig's contract. But, of course, there's always the optimistic folks who think it's just a matter of time until we see Craig return as James Bond, and I think I'll side with them until further notice. "This doesn't mean the end of the Bond films. The question is how long it will take to make another one." Let's just hope we don't have to wait too long for it.
Read more: http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/07/06/mgm-cancels-sam-mendes-bond-23-no-more-daniel-craig/#ixzz0t0VFvXWw
This news comes mainly from Harry at AICN and the UK's Mirror (both via The Playlist). Harry Knowles says that "apparently all development on the next James Bond flick is dead. They've actually ****ed MGM up so much that right now, they've canned development of a new James Bond film." Oh I know, it's very sad. Mirror confirms: "Members of the production crew have been told the Bond film has been canned. There is a lot of bad feeling as a lot of time, money and hard work has already gone into this." Apparently this is not just another delay, it sounds like MGM is canceling all projects in development until they figure out how to get back into the moviemaking business, which may be never (if things keep going the same way they are).
The big question now is if this also means the end of Daniel Craig as James Bond. No one really knows how long Craig's contract runs or how many films he was signed to be in, but I'm sure MGM is pulling some crazy tricks in order to cancel any and everything, and that could include Craig's contract. But, of course, there's always the optimistic folks who think it's just a matter of time until we see Craig return as James Bond, and I think I'll side with them until further notice. "This doesn't mean the end of the Bond films. The question is how long it will take to make another one." Let's just hope we don't have to wait too long for it.
Read more: http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/07/06/mgm-cancels-sam-mendes-bond-23-no-more-daniel-craig/#ixzz0t0VFvXWw