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Global Showbiz Briefs: Keanu Reeves Doc, 007 Tour, Seven’s Bid For Consolidated, Nine’s Financial Woes

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday September 14, 2012 @ 12:42am PDTTags: Consolidated Media, Global Showbiz Briefs, James Bond, Nine Entertainment, Side By Side

Keanu Reeves Goes ‘Side By Side’ In Poland
Plus Cameraimage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography that takes place in Poland, has added Keanu Reeves’ documentary Side By Side as its opening film. The film’s director, Chris Kenneally along with cinematographer Chris Cassidy, producer Justin Szlasa and producer/host Keanu Reeves will attend the screening in Bydgoszcz and talk about the film. Side By Side includes interviews with filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, George Lucas and martin Scorsese who discuss pros and cons of 35mm vs. digital. It was previously announced that David Lynch will receive the fest’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Directing. Fest runs Nov. 24 to Dec. 1.

007 Bond Tour Kicks Off Monday In The UK
James Bond is set to travel the UK to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the franchise. Beginning Monday, Roger Moore and other Bond film stars will appear at locations around the country that have been used in the 007 movies including Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland, Penbryn Beach in Wales and Stoke Park in England. Former Bond girls Eunice Grayson, Britt Ekland and Shirley Eaton as well as Richard Kiel will join the 007 Days of Bond tour which ends in London on Sept. 24. The 23rd Bond picture Skyfall opens in the UK next month.
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James Bond Celebrates 50 Years On Film With ‘Global James Bond Day’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday August 29, 2012 @ 12:06pm PDTTags: James Bond, Skyfall

LOS ANGELES, Calif., August 29, 2012 – In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise on the anniversary of Dr. No, which enjoyed its world film premiere in London on October 5, 1962, and in anticipation of the worldwide release of the 23rd James Bond adventure SKYFALL™, Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced today that October 5, 2012 will be Global James Bond Day, a day-long series of events for Bond fans around the world.

A new feature documentary from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Passion Pictures and Red Box Films, Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007, will be also be unveiled, country-specific details to follow. Directed by Stevan Riley (Fire In Babylon), Everything or Nothing focuses on three men with a shared dream – Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman and author Ian Fleming. It’s the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history which began in 1962.

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Hot TV Spot: ‘Skyfall’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday July 27, 2012 @ 10:01pm PDTTags: James Bond, Skyfall

Here’s a TV spot for the new James Bond movie Skyfall which premiered during the Opening Ceremony of the London Summer Olympics:

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Duncan Jones Plans Ian Fleming Biopic

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 19, 2012 @ 5:14pm PDTTags: Duncan Jones, James Bond

British helmer Duncan Jones is tapped to direct a biopic based on Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond books that launched one of the longest-running and most profitable movie franchises. Fleming gained first-hand knowledge of his subject matter … Read More »

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‘Skyfall’ China Production Blog: Video

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday April 19, 2012 @ 11:43am PDTTags: James Bond, Skyfall

Related: Sam Mendes’ 1st Videoblog From Set Of 23rd James Bond Film

Producers of the latest James Bond film Skyfall offer up a few more brief snips of footage during shooting in Shanghai, which definitely provides that sleek Bond look with its sharp cityscapes. The film directed by Sam … Read More »

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Amazon Acquires License To James Bond Novels For Digital And Print

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday April 17, 2012 @ 6:15pm PDTTags: Amazon, James Bond

SEATTLE — Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Ian Fleming Publications Ltd today announced that Amazon Publishing has acquired a ten-year license for North American rights to the entire list of James Bond books by Ian Fleming in print and ebook. Along with the iconic series, Fleming’s two works of non-fiction, consisting of a collection of travel writings called Thrilling Cities (1963) and an exposé of the illegal precious stones trade entitled The Diamond Smugglers (1957), are also included in the agreement. Jonny Geller, Managing Director at Curtis Brown, negotiated the agreement. All of the titles will be reissued by Amazon Publishing’s Thomas & Mercer imprint beginning in summer 2012.

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James Bond To Sip Beer Instead Of Martini? Ad Age Says It’s So

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday April 1, 2012 @ 8:07pm PDTTags: James Bond, Skyfall

In at least one scene in the upcoming Skyfall, James Bond will eschew his traditional shaken martini for a Heineken, Ad Age reports. Heineken USA is utilizing Agent 007 to boost its flagship brew this year. The Bond campaign … Read More »

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‘Skyfall’ First James Bond Film To Hit IMAX

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 23, 2012 @ 10:49am PSTTags: IMAX, James Bond, MGM, Skyfall, Sony

Los Angeles – February 23, 2012 – IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX; TSX:IMX), Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment today announced that the long-awaited next chapter in the famed James Bond franchise, SKYFALL, will be released in IMAX® theatres simultaneously with the film’s international release on Oct. 26, and its domestic release on Nov. 9, 2012. This is the first IMAX installment of the iconic Bond film franchise.

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FIRST LOOK: Daniel Craig In ‘Skyfall’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday February 1, 2012 @ 2:08am PSTTags: Daniel Craig, James Bond, Skyfall

Sony has just released the first official image from Sam Mendes’ Skyfall, the 23rd Bond film that stars Daniel Craig in his 3rd outing as 007. The cast also includes Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Berenice Marlohe, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney and Judi Dench. Skyfall opens in the U.K. … Read More »

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MGM And Fox To Package All 22 James Bond Films On Blu-ray

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday January 10, 2012 @ 1:04pm PSTTags: 20th Century Fox, Blu-ray, James Bond, MGM

EXCLUSIVE: When you consider how important gadgets are in James Bond lore, it makes sense for MGM and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to use the 2012 International CES to announce plans to release all 22 movies in a boxed … Read More »

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Daniel Craig To Surpass Roger Moore’s Record As 007?: UK Report

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday December 19, 2011 @ 11:12am PSTTags: Daniel Craig, James Bond, Skyfall

Will Daniel Craig overtake Roger Moore and become the James Bond franchise’s longest-running 007? Bond producer Michael G Wilson is reported to have said, “I’d love Daniel to surpass Roger’s record and do eight pictures. Daniel’s been an absolute pleasure … Read More »

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Henry Cavill Talks New ‘Superman’ On Leno

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday November 8, 2011 @ 1:51am PSTTags: Henry Cavill, Immortals, James Bond, Man of Steel, Superman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Twilight

The Immortals star confirms on The Tonight Show that he almost became the new James Bond (“down to Daniel and me”) and was Stephenie Meyer’s first choice for Twilight (“she apparently was very keen on me playing it, but by the time it came around to casting I was too … Read More »

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James Bond ‘Skyfall’ Adds Helen McCrory, Ola Rapace To Cast As Cameras Roll

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday November 7, 2011 @ 7:04pm PSTTags: Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw, Daniel Craig, Film Castings, James Bond, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Sam Mendes, Skyfall

As filming got underway Monday for Skyfall, the names of two additional actors but not their characters’ identities were posted on the movie’s Twitter account @007: Helen McCrory (Hugo, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2) and … Read More »

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‘Skyfall’ Confirmed As Title Of New Bond Movie; Budget Around $230M; Sam Mendes Says He’s Open To Follow-up

By TIM ADLER in London | Thursday November 3, 2011 @ 6:18am PDTTags: Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw, Daniel Craig, Eon Productions, James Bond, Javier Bardem, John Logan, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Sam Mendes, Skyfall

Shooting on the latest James Bond movie starts Monday, Daniel Craig revealed at this morning’s press conference for Skyfall, the 23rd 007 movie. Producer Michael G Wilson scotched UK tabloid rumors that the budget for the latest Bond film has been slashed by $100 million. “We’re in the same budget range as the last film. We haven’t had to change anything in the script. In fact, we keep adding things — everything is going to be just as it was,” he said. Director Sam Mendes also denied he was making a downbeat Bond with fewer action sequences. He would be directing action sequences himself. “There will be plenty of surprises,” Mendes promised. “The action needs to be balanced with the drama.” Mendes said he was open to directing another Bond installment, “if I still feel that it’s as much fun in six months’ time, then the answer is yes.” Read More »

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Global Showbiz Briefs: UK, India, Korea

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday August 24, 2011 @ 9:50pm PDTTags: Christopher Nolan, Daniel Craig, India, James Bond, Oscars, Pinewood Studios, Prometheus, Ridley Scott, Sam Mendes, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Dark Knight Rises, Universal

Solid First Half For UK’s Pinewood Shepperton Studios
Revenues are up 68% over the first half of the 2011 according to interim results released today, from $27M to $42M over the same period a year ago. The largest film production based at Pinewood Studios during the period was Dark Shadows (Warner Bros), and the largest production based at Shepperton Studios was Wrath of the Titans (WB). Other films that used Pinewood Shepperton facilities included The Iron Lady (DJ Films/Pathé), Gravity (WB), Woman in Black (Hammer Films), 47 Ronin (Universal) and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (Fox). Universal’s Snow White And The Huntsman has just begun shooting at Pinewood. The surge in film business offset a drop in TV revenues from $8.3M last year to $7.6M, which the studio attributed to using more space on movie productions.

Off-Track Bond 23 May Exit India For South Africa
Unhappy that permission to shut down portions of two railways outside Mumbai still has not been granted, Take One Productions is threatening to move production of Bond 23 from India to South Africa. Originally scheduled to shoot in the fall, the Sam Mendes-directed project starring Daniel Craig is now pointing for a January start. “South African authorities are waiting to provide everything that is required to support this movie,” said Take One’s Pravesh Sahni. “If we can’t get this cooperation from India, the film will no longer be shot here.” The railroad scenes will be a major part of the film, Sahni told The Times of India. Read More »

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TOLDJA! MGM Makes Distribution Deal With Sony Pictures That Includes James Bond

By NIKKI FINKE AND MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday April 13, 2011 @ 4:05pm PDTTags: 007, Amy Pascal, Daniel Craig, David Fincher, Gary Barber, James Bond, Kevin James, MGM, Michael Lynton, Roger Birnbaum, Sony Pictures, Total Recall

Sony Pictures and MGM have finally announced the worst kept secret in Hollywood. They’ve reached an agreement that will return Sony Pictures to its role as distributor of the James Bond movies. Sony, along with studios like Warner Bros, Paramount and Fox, all engaged in talks with the reconstituted MGM on a deal that came at a hefty price. Deadline reported previously that MGM walked away with the right to be co-financier on several plum Sony films, including the David Fincher-directed The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, as well as others to be added to the mix, including the remake of Total Recall. The latter film might be particularly painful for Sony because sources tell us that MGM gets to distribute Total Recall in the highly valuable international TV market. This is considered a huge benefit to MGM in that it enhances the value of its international TV portfolio and robs Sony’s existing international TV partners of a title that is expected to be big overseas. Neither Sony nor MGM would comment on the horse-trading part of the deal.

Clearly, Sony wanted the Bond franchise back badly, and now Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton have brought 007 back into the fold. Deadline reported last summer that MGM was being reconstituted as a pure production play and shedding its distribution operation. That immediately put the studio’s most valuable title, 007, in play. Bidders began mobilizing before MGM made it out of bankruptcy. By January, several of the studios vying for Bond rights became increasingly frustrated by the attempts by MGM’s  new chiefs Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum to leverage 007 distribution rights to get co-financing rights to plum projects at whatever studio won the deal. This came even after MGM had offered the villain role to Oscar-winner Javier Bardem, a courtship that is still going on (Anthony Hopkins has also been rumored as a potential participant on the evil side of the Bond dossier). Sony Pictures eventually got the upper hand and moved close to a deal in early February, after Sony threw co-fi rights to Dragon Tattoo and other titles into the pot. The announcement doesn’t deal with other MGM titles, but there are expected to be more that get distributed by Sony Pictures, which separately partnered with the studio on the Kevin James-starrer The Zookeeper. That film moved over to Sony when MGM went into deep freeze because of its crushing debt burden, and Sony moved it to the heart of the summer, with a July 8 release date. While Sony was winning that deal, rival suitors like Paramount (which has a strong relationship with Barber and Birnbaum over Star Trek) bristled at MGM’s asking price, plus a relatively low 8% distribution fee on the 007 film that Sam Mendes will direct and which Sony will release November 9, 2012, with Daniel Craig reprising. Here is the official announcement: Read More »

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Javier Bardem Closing ‘Dark Tower’ Deal

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday April 6, 2011 @ 5:45pm PDTTags: Akiva Goldsman, Brian Grazer, Daniel Craig, James Bond, Javier Bardem, JRR Tolkien, Kerry Foster, Ron Howard, Sam Mendes, Sergio Leone, Stephen King, Terrence Malick, The Dark Tower, Universal Pictures
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Javier Bardem is close to sealing his deal with Universal Pictures to play gunslinger Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower, the mammoth adaptation of the Stephen King 7-novel series that’ll span three movies and a limited run TV series in between each film. Director Ron Howard begins production on the first film in September, and he’ll also direct the first TV segment. Akiva Goldsman has scripted the film and the initial TV component. Imagine Entertainment chief Brian Grazer is producing the films with Goldsman and King. Goldsman will produce the TV part through his Weed Road banner.

Bardem, who won the Oscar for his ferocious portrayal of a hit man in  No Country For Old Men and who was more recently nominated for Biutiful, is a strong match to play the last living member of a knightly order of gunslingers. Deadline revealed in late January that Bardem had been offered the role of Deschain, who becomes humanity’s last hope to save civilization as he hits the road to find the Dark Tower. Along the way, he encounters characters, good and bad, in a world that has an old West feel.

Bardem’s WME reps are putting the finishing touches on the deal, and they are close enough that Howard has begun meeting with other actors to cast the roles around Bardem. It’s a complex deal, almost unprecedented, because it calls for Bardem to star in the feature film and the TV component. His deal will also include options for two sequels (the TV program that runs between the second and third films will be a prequel). I’m told it will add up to a career-best payday for Bardem. Howard and Goldsman have told me they see the trilogy as their answer to the Peter Jackson-directed adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. While Middle Earth had a mystical medieval feel, The Dark Tower vibe is one that Goldsman described as “an alternate Americana, one part post-apocalyptic, one part Sergio Leone.” Read More »

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Sony Taking Over MGM’s Foreign Theatrical Distribution From Fox?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday March 10, 2011 @ 6:35pm PSTTags: Fox, James Bond, MGM, Sony

But the good news for Fox is that MGM is still looking to let Fox keep distributing all of MGM’s library on home video because the studio has done such a good job since 2006, especially with the James Bond franchise. On the other hand, Fox appears resigned to the … Read More »

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Sony About To Recapture James Bond #23; UPDATE: MGM Leverages 007 For Deal On Sony’s ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’

By NIKKI FINKE AND MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday February 7, 2011 @ 9:30pm PSTTags: Amy Pascal, Barbara Broccoli, Daniel Craig, Fox, Freida Pinto, Gary Barber, James Bond, Javier Bardem, MGM, Michael Lynton, Michael Wilson, Paramount, Roger Birnbaum, Sam Mendes, Sony Pictures, Spyglass, Warner Bros

2ND UPDATE:  The new MGM brass, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum managed to leverage the James Bond #23 film for a piece of Sony’s in-the-works big movie based on the Stieg Larsson bestseller, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which has already been shooting in Sweden under director David Fincher and starring Rooney Mara. Deadline has learned that Sony Pictures bosses Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton agreed to give MGM a co-financing deal for the big title and possibly other films already shooting, too, to help the reconstituted studio generate quick cash flow. This allows MGM to have revenue which it hasn’t had in a long time, so the books look better, and more funds for production could be forthcoming. (That’s exactly how Birnbaum and Barber built their Spyglass Entertainment in the first place: by investing in films it didn’t make, like the recently rebooted Star Trek.)

UPDATE: We’re told Paramount dropped out of the Bond bidding when MGM insisted on bringing the distribution fee under 8% and when MGM got “grabby” in wanting a piece of a Paramount established franchise that studio didn’t want to give up.

EXCLUSIVE 5 PM: Deadline hears that Sony Pictures is close to landing distribution rights to MGM’s James Bond franchise again, and specifically for the next untitled Bond #23, even though several studios are still very much in the hunt. Sony Pictures chiefs Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton distributed both Daniel Craig 007 pics, Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace, and now have moved into first position to recapture 007. That’s because Sony is agreeing to allow MGM’s new leadership to leverage the next Bond pic, and indeed the Bond franchise, to create more cash flow for the reconstituted studio post-bankruptcy. The new brass, Spyglass Entertainment co-owners Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum who are now the Co-Chairmen andCEOs of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, are finishing negotiations to co-finance a number of films with Sony. Deadline has learned that Pascal and Lynton have already found a title on the Sony slate for MGM to co-finance. That’s exactly how Birnbaum and Barber built Spyglass in the first place: by investing in films it didn’t make, such as The Sixth Sense and the recently rebooted Star Trek.

There’s no doubt this is a shrewd move by MGM, but Deadline also learned it wasn’t sitting well with the majors. Top execs at Sony and Fox and Paramount and Warner Bros were increasingly frustrated with the way that the Spyglass duo were playing one studio off another — “and enjoying it,” in the words of one exec involved. Sony at the time even described its strategy to win Bond #23 as ”pleading”. Now it looks like that worked along with agreeing to much of MGM’s negotiating terms.

Even though MGM holds sway on where Bond #23 lands, a 007 return to the Sony fold would please EON partners Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson. Amy Pascal in particular has developed a strong personal and professional relationship with Broccoli when they were making the transition from Pierce Brosnan to Daniel Craig. Broccoli  and Wilson found Craig among a list of possible 007s, and the choice wasn’t popular at first. But Pascal supported Craig. Also Sony has a reputation for spending big to market Bond: for Casino Royale, Sony spent a humongous sum worldwide to introduce the new Bond. MGM was supposed to distribute the 23rd Bond film itself, until the studio was pushed into bankruptcy. Read More »

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