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Sam Mendes Won’t Direct Bond 24: Report

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday March 6, 2013 @ 5:24am PSTTags: James Bond, Sam Mendes, Skyfall

He directed the highest-grossing James Bond movie of all time, but with a full dance card, Skyfall helmer Sam Mendes has told Empire Magazine that he will not return to the 007 franchise for the next installment. “It has been a very difficult decision not to accept Michael and Barbara’s very generous offer to direct the next Bond movie,” he said. “Directing Skyfall was one of the best experiences of my professional life, but I have theater and other commitments including productions of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and King Lear, that need my complete focus over the next year and beyond.” Mendes is also working with Skyfall co-writer John Logan on psychosexual horror series, Penny Dreadful, for Showtime with production eyed to begin in London in the second half of the year. Logan is penning the next two Bond pictures.

Producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli didn’t rule out the possibility of working with the director again, however. “We thoroughly enjoyed working with Sam, he directed our most successful Bond movie ever, Skyfall. We would have loved to have made the next film with him, but completely respect his decision to focus on other projects and hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with him again,” they said.

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Showtime Lands High-Concept Drama From ‘Skyfall’ Duo John Logan And Sam Mendes

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday January 11, 2013 @ 4:16pm PSTTags: John Logan, Sam Mendes, Showtime
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of their movie Skyfall smashing worldwide box office records as the highest-grossing James Bond pic of all time and landing the franchise’s first Oscar nominations in 30 years, the film’s co-writer John Logan and director Sam Mendes are headed to Showtime. I’ve learned that the pay cable network, flying high on the critical success of original drama Homeland, has landed the duo’s high-concept drama project, which Logan and Mendes took out to premium cable networks in November as a spec written by Logan. Deals are still being finalized but I hear that the project is eyeing a straight-to-series order at Showtime, with Logan and Mendes executive producing with an eye for Mendes to direct. The untitled drama, which has undergone some tweaking from the original spec to tailor it to the Showtime audiences, is described as a psychological horror drama series with literary underpinnings, including Dr. Frankenstein and his creature, set in the 1800s. This would mark both Logan and Mendes’ series debut. They are executive producing the show with Pippa Harris, Mendes’ partner at Neal Street Prods. Read More »

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James Bond At 50 Scores Big At The Academy But Could It Be The First To Get Best Picture Attention?

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday November 12, 2012 @ 5:40pm PSTTags: Lincoln, Oscars, Sam Mendes, Skyfall, Steven Spielberg
Pete Hammond

James Bond and Abraham Lincoln both were very impressive at the box office this weekend but they also killed at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences with packed turnaway crowds, certainly among the biggest of the year there and a good omen for their Oscar chances.

At Saturday night’s Lincoln screening the 1,012 seat Samuel Goldwyn Theatre was already full with Academy members by 7:10 and the smaller theatre in the building that seats about 80 was also at capacity just a few minutes later. In a rare moment for these official Academy screenings about 50 to 60 were turned away. One member who didn’t make it in and regularly attends almost all the Acad member weekend showings told me it was the first time in all the years he has been going that he wasn’t able to get in. The film reportedly played extremely well with a standing ovation for star Daniel Day-Lewis at the Q&A which also included director Steven Spielberg, producer Kathleen Kennedy, screenwriter Tony Kushner, composer John Williams and co-star Sally Field. I was also told that virtually everyone stayed for the Q&A which often isn’t the case. This intense interest bodes well for the film’s Oscar prospects down the line. An earlier all-Guild screening at the Westwood Bruin also drew a capacity crowd and strong response at the Q&A. Read More »

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BBC Exec Nicolas Brown To Join Top Ranks Of Sam Mendes’ Neal Street

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday November 8, 2012 @ 8:06am PSTTags: Sam Mendes

Looking to expand its TV slate, Neal Street Productions has appointed BBC director of UK drama Nicolas Brown as a company director. He will start his job early next year and take a seat on the Neal Street board alongside founders Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris and Caro Newling. At the BBC since 2006, Brown this year took responsibility for the delivery of all BBC network drama including EastEnders, Silent Witness, The Paradise and Luther. Prior to joining the BBC, he was a producer in his own right and recently executive produced two short films for Danny Boyle’s Olympics Opening Ceremony — notably one in which Daniel Craig’s James Bond escorts Queen Elizabeth II to the Olympic stadium via helicopter. At Neal Street, he’ll work with Skyfall director Mendes and Harris on both film and TV projects. In the past year, Neal Street’s Call The Midwife was the BBC’s highest-rated new drama ever. The 1950s-set series recently completed a successful run on PBS in the U.S. Read More »

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‘Skyfall’ Duo John Logan And Sam Mendes Pair Up In TV For Vampire Hunter Drama

By NIKKI FINKE AND NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday November 4, 2012 @ 12:35pm PSTTags: Big Deals TV, John Logan, Sam Mendes, Skyfall

EXCLUSIVE: With the latest James Bond movie Skyfall already smashing box office records, the film’s co-writer John Logan and director Sam Mendes are re-teaming on the TV side. In what would be both Logan and Mendes’ series debut, the two have partnered for a drama project. We’ve learned that the script, written by Logan with Mendes attached to produce and possibly direct, has been sent to premium cable networks.

It is described as an origin story set in the 1800s London in the vein of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which also was set in 19th century Europe, including London, and featured an assortment of fictional literary characters. The Logan/Mendes project features such characters as Van Helsing and Doctor Frankenstein as they hunt for vampires. The drama is unlikely to have spy elements as Eon Prods., which produces the Bond films, has a long history of preventing its writers and directors from working on other ‘spy’ material, even when they’re done with a 007 movie and have moved on. In the case of Logan, he is far from done with Bond –  he already  has been tapped to write the next two installments, Bond 24 and 25. Meanwhile, Mendes was the first Oscar winner to direct a Bond pic with Skyfall. He is producing the TV project through his Neal Street Prods. Read More »

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Sam Mendes’ West End ‘Charlie’ Casts ‘Diana’ Star Douglas Hodge As Willy Wonka

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday October 11, 2012 @ 5:04am PDTTags: Sam Mendes

British actor Douglas Hodge will play candy/imagination impresario Willy Wonka in Sam Mendes‘ West End musical take on Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. The Warner Bros. Theatrical Ventures production is set to open next year. Hodge … Read More »

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Hot Teaser Trailer: ‘Skyfall’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 21, 2012 @ 1:06am PDTTags: Daniel Craig, Sam Mendes, Skyfall, Sony Pictures

Sony and MGM have released the first theatrical teaser trailer for the new James Bond movie Skyfall. Directed by Sam Mendes, it has Daniel Craig in his third turn as 007, Javier Bardem as the villain plus Judi Dench as M — who it turns out has or … Read More »

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

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday February 22, 2012 @ 12:50am PSTTags: Daniel Craig, Sam Mendes, Skyfall

While not quite as revelatory as, say, Peter Jackson’s 10-minute+ digital missives from Hobbiton, Sam Mendes here presents a 90-second videoblog from the set of Skyfall. The new 007 director waxes on his own Bond nostalgia and there are even a few glimpses of filming (Daniel Craig stalking in a … 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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AFM: IM Global Makes ‘Blood’ Pact With BBC Films

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday November 3, 2011 @ 12:40pm PDTTags: BBC Films, IM Global, Sam Mendes
Mike Fleming

Los Angeles, Nov. 3: Leading independent financing, production and sales company IM Global is co-financing, with BBC Films (who developed the film), dramatic thriller BLOOD. The film will be produced by Neal Street Productions, the company of Oscar winning director Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead) and Nicola Shindler’s Red Productions (Bedlam, Queer as Folk), it was announced today by IM Global founder and CEO Stuart Ford.

Nick Murphy (The Awakening) will direct the project from a script by Bill Gallagher, based on his original, award winning TV series, Conviction. It will star Paul Bettany (Legion, The Da Vinci Code), Brian Cox (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Red, The Bourne Supremacy) and Stephen Graham (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, This is England).

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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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Tobey Maguire’s Material Pictures Taps Focus Exec Matthew Plouffe For SVP Post

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday August 31, 2011 @ 10:26am PDTTags: Adam Shankman, Anne Hathaway, Baz Luhrmann, David Fincher, Focus Features, Sam Mendes, Shane Acker, Tobey Maguire
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Tobey Maguire’s Material Pictures has hired Focus Features executive Matthew Plouffe to be its new SVP Production. Plouffe, who has spent the past six years in the New York headquarters of Focus, will move to Los Angeles and start the job Oct. 1. Plouffe is currently Focus’ Director of Production and has worked on such Focus films as the Sam Mendes-directed Away We Go, Shane Acker’s 9, the Ryan Fleck/Anna Boden-directed It’s Kind of A Funny Story and most recently on the Lone Scherfig-directed adaptation of One Day that stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Plouffe wanted to move West, and the transition was done with the blessing of Focus Features chief James Schamus, who wrote and produced Maguire’s breakout film as an actor, The Ice Storm. “All of us at Focus have been blessed over the past six years to see Matt grow to become one of the smartest, hardest-working and kindest execs out there, and while we’re sad to see him go, he couldn’t have found a better opportunity than the one Tobey has offered. It’s great to see two of the smartest people in the business teaming up,” Schamus said. 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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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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‘Tron: Legacy’s Joseph Kosinski Passes JJ Abrams To Become King Of First-Timers

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday April 5, 2011 @ 4:10pm PDTTags: Adam Horowitz, Carl Rinsch, Charlize Theron, Chris Nolan, Disney, Edward Kitsis, Guillermo Del Toro, JJ Abrams, Joseph Kosinski, Kristen Stewart, Rupert Sanders, Sam Mendes, Sean Bailey, Tom Cruise, Travis Beacham, Tron: Legacy, Viggo Mortensen
Mike Fleming

Before it got released on DVD today, Tron: Legacy managed to play in theaters long enough to establish Joseph Kosinski as the highest-grossing first-time director of a live-action film in Hollywood history. The film’s $399 million global gross recently eclipsed … 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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Javier Bardem Offered Big Bond #23 Role; MGM Leveraging 007 Distribution With Co-Financing Deal To Improve Its Cash Flow: Jockeying Studios “Increasingly Frustrated”

By NIKKI FINKE AND MIKE FLEMING JR | Sunday January 30, 2011 @ 1:44pm PSTTags: Daniel Craig, James Bond, Javier Bardem, Sam Mendes

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has just learned that Javier Bardem has been offered a starring role in the upcoming James Bond film recently set for a November 9, 2012, release. Details about the character are being kept under wraps for now. But traditionally the biggest male role opposite 007 is the villain, and Bardem played a truly villainous villain in his Oscar-winning turn in No Country For Old Men two years ago. The EON Productions offer by principals Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli to Bardem to join star Daniel Craig and director Sam Mendes was made last week, at around the same time that  the WME-repped Bardem received his Best Actor nomination for Biutiful and another high-profile offer of a lead role, that of gunslinger Roland Deschain in the Ron Howard-directed trilogy based on Stephen King’s novel series The Dark Tower. (Amidst all this career activity, Bardem and Penelope Cruz welcomed their first son into the world.) But it should be noted that Bardem was offered the high-profile villain role in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and turned it down.

The other Bond #23 news is this: Deadline has learned that MGM’s new leadership is trying to leverage the next Bond pic, and indeed the Bond franchise, to create more cash flow for the post-bankruptcy studio. The new brass, Spyglass Entertainment co-owners Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum who are now the Co-Chairmen/CEOs of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc, are in the middle of negotiating to make an overall deal for worldwide theatrical and home entertainment distribution of not just Bond but also MGM’s new product as well as its library of films. But what isn’t known is that, as part of that deal, MGM wants whichever studio is chosen to distribute Bond 23 to co-finance a number of films with MGM. ”That would provide MGM quick cash flow,” an insider tells Deadline. “The quick cash flow allows MGM to have revenue which it hasn’t had in a long time. Thereby their books look better, and therefore the possibility of getting more funds for production is increased. So expect whichever studio lands Bond to also announce it is several co-financing deals allowing MGM into other pics that are already shooting.”

There’s no doubt this is a shrewd move by MGM, but Deadline has learned it’s not sitting well with the majors. Top execs at Sony and Fox and Paramount and Warner Bros who are all involved in the negotiations to distribute Bond ”are growing increasingly frustrated with the way that the Spyglass duo are playing one studio off another — and enjoying it,” in the words of one exec involved. One studio even described its strategy to win Bond #23 was reduced recently to ”pleading”. Read More »

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BOND IS BACK! Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes Set For Nov. 9, 2012 Release Date

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday January 11, 2011 @ 11:44am PSTTags: Barbara Broccoli, Daniel Craig, Daniel Craig Bond, James Bond, MGM, Sam Mendes

EXCLUSIVE: MGM is announcing that “BOND 23″ is set to go into production in late 2011. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions, together with Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, the Co-Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., today announced that the 23rd James Bond film will have a worldwide release on November 9, 2012 — just as Deadline last month reported it would. Daniel Craig will be returning as the legendary British secret agent, with Sam Mendes directing a screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan. That script is being kept under wraps but the story begins after Quantum Of Solace leaves off. The reason for the 007 delay is this: Broccoli and Wilson had been in pre-production on Bond #23 for release in 2011 but then it took almost a year for MGM’s future to sort itself out what with the failed auction sale of the studio, then the pre-packaged bankruptcy getting approval, and eventually Spyglass taking over studio filmmaking.

Meanwhile star Daniel Craig filled in the time with various film commitments which he had to finish. The actor began work on the Hollywood remake of the Swedish original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo as soon as he completed shooting Cowboys and Aliens in a nifty bit of schedule coordination between two studios and James Bond rights holders Broccoli and Wilson. 

Mendes at first was brought on as a “consultant” because of the delays, and is now officially the director. He responded to the Bond delay by setting a feature adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel On Chesil Beach and directing the Broadway-bound musical adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Yet another James Bond videogame, which also had been held up because of the uncertainty, recently got the go-ahead. Meanwhile, the latest 007 vidgame was for sale this Christmas.

It’s still not clear who will distribute the next Bond. Deadline’s Mike Fleming reported in November that, if MGM isn’t the distributor, the next installment of James Bond will be “a jump ball”. Expect Sony (which distributed Casino Royale) to battle it out with Warner Bros and Fox, but Paramount could emerge in the thick of it because of its close relationship with Spyglass over the film reboot of Star Trek and sequel.

Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and at the mercy of its creditors, MGM was in the news for more than a year because of its financial woes. While the studio’s beleaguered backers unwisely allowed MGM and its library to languish by not making new movies and benching MGM’s creative and marketing/distribution executives while it staged a futile sales auction that attracted bottom-fishing bids, MGM made sure to meets the minimum obligations to its two gems, James Bond and The Hobbit. 

As you know, the James Bond filmmakers operate with great autonomy and watching the MGM situation unfold with a mixture of dismay and curiosity. Dismay because Bond’s longtime studio home was a mess. And curiosity because Broccoli and Wilson hoped to move Bond to a fully functioning studio. Like Sony, where Amy Pascal was dying to keep the famous franchise. Or Fox, which handled Bond’s DVD distribution. Broccoli and Wilson very deliberately made certain they didn’t do anything on Bond #23 which tied the movie further to MGM. (That’s why Mendes was hired as a consulting, not the director. Because once EON hires a director on their Bond films, it triggers a first payment from MGM.) Once the MGM auction apparently busted, EON Productions wanted to keep all its options open.

Meanwhile, Bond 23 may now be casting.  Read More »

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Confirmed: Kevin Spacey And Sam Mendes Firm Up ‘Richard III’ Dates

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday December 1, 2010 @ 7:21am PSTTags: Kevin Spacey, Kevin Spacey Richard III, Sam Mendes, Sam Mendes Richard III, Theater, William Shakepeare Richard III
Mike Fleming

American Beauty‘s Kevin Spacey and Sam Mendes have formalized their plans to re-team in a stage production of Richard III, which will premiere at Spacey’s haunt The Old Vic June 29, 2011 and transplant to the Brooklyn Academy of … Read More »

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