The deal seemingly fell through. No reports after the “rumours they where finalising a deal” deadline speculated it would be finalised and announced a week later. That was in November.
Even if the deal was ‘just’ for the US market, and ‘just’ for BOND 25, it would still be huge for Annapurna regardless. We mustn’t forget the other end of the bargain: financing a considerable percentage of the budget for BOND 25. Meaning funds in a league nobody has just lying around forgotten in a dusty drawer. It’s perfectly possible the distribution deal they were aiming for came with strings attached and terms and conditions simply not within reach. Or not yet in any case.
Once we hear about the final arrangements we will probably also hear more about that angle of the deal. Or at least our guesswork will be a little better informed and closer to the core of affairs.
Annapurna was named as distributer as recently as 2 weeks ago in all of the Danny Boyle press…
“Variety says that since Annapurna Pictures won the distribution rights to the Bond franchise, there has been “one last push” to go after a more well-known name to take the helm. Indeed, the previous deal with Sony came to a conclusion with Spectre, and Annapurna landed the distribution rights after months of wooing the franchise’s producers.“
“…At that time, it wasn’t even certain if star Daniel Craig would return or who would be handling distribution in the United States. Since then, Craig has been confirmed and Annapurna Pictures will distribute along with MGM. And yet, a director still remains elusive.”
“Around that same time, several directors were considered to be ‘frontrunners’ for the film but, according to Variety, that changed once Annapurna came on board. Now all eyes are on Danny Boyle, who is developing a film at the moment but has nothing solid on the books.”
Too early to say whether the Annapurna deal is still on or fell through. Everything about the MGM distribution took much longer than expected; the only thing we know for sure is that sometime before BOND 25 takes off there’s got to be a deal in place. And that it’s not yet where it ought to be.
Interestingly, the variety article was updated - and Annapurna was edited out.
It now reads:
Daniel Craig is set to return to star in the new Bond movie and MGM is expected to distribute domestically. MGM had no comment.
Sources tell Variety that “White Boy Rick” director Yann Demange was considered a top choice for the job, but there’s been one last push to go after a more well-known name.
Sam Mendes directed the previous two installments, which became the highest-grossing films in the series, with “Skyfall” bringing in $1.1 billion globally and “Spectre” earning $880 million at the worldwide box office. Mendes said after the most recent Bond movie that he would not continue directing films in the 007 series, and Eon and MGM have spent considerable time figuring out the direction in which the new movie needed to go.
Boyle most recently directed the limited series “Trust” for FX, and has directed features including “127 Hours” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” for which he won a directing Oscar. He is repped by WME.
UPDATED: Domestic distribution rights are currently held by MGM.
So, something did happen - and maybe Annapurna could not deliver what they needed. Which must have execs in turmoil… and the future of BOND 25 as well.
My feeling since last year was that of those vying for the deal it would be for the full ride. To that point, Paramount and WB were the only two that could swing it unless Sony/Columbia jumped back in. WB has the means and they really need something solid as their DCU is becoming more DOA with the exception of Wonder Woman. Also, if reports are now being retro edited re: Annapuma, that tells me their eyes (maybe Eon’s too) were bigger than their stomach or rather they wanted the champagne all you could eat buffet and could only afford the McDonald’s dollar menu.
Paramount now has their cable network as well as Trek and MI franchises which is, while they could, the current big wigs there are content and won’t offer anything substantial whereas WB would be willing to make a solid deal for a piece of franchise royalty.
Not iron clad logic, but solid.
It was clear from the go that Annapurna’s deal would have been a big step in any case - and certainly a stretch for their outfit regardless of the details. A bigger player would have much less trouble, provided they really want the gig. We’ll see how it plays out…
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Absolutely. I wonder why Annapurna nevertheless seemed to edge out the other studios, despite it being a very risky endeavor.
Did the other studios want assurances to get more than just one CraigBond? Having to pitch in again for the next Bond era would surely have been a problem. Annapurna might have been willing to test their abilities on only one film.
In any event, the deal-making of BOND 25 seems to offer more intrigue than the film itself can present…
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I think, going by how their deal for the other MGM movies is, it’d be closer to MGM being its own distributor again rather than just working as a production company, but the full demands of funding and marketing a Bond film, even just domestically, was too much of a financial push for them, I am just guessing though.
According to this article a year ago, MGM and Eon were only offering a 1 year contract.
At that point anyway, Paramount was not involved.
That one-year-only approach would have been up for revision at least from the point where opening their own distribution op was on the table again. You can’t very well start a joint-venture with Annapurna’s resources and then offer the biggest business only for a single film.
Could be the plan back then was to offer BOND 25 to studios while simultaneously building up their distribution branch to take over for BOND 26. Somewhere down the road somebody will have pointed out they could just as well try and go the distance with BOND 25, why wait?
In any case the field is complex and obviously more complicated than could reasonably be expected. When rumours about supposedly finalising a deal start appearing then that deal really should only just need a couple of signatures…
I never would have thought after SPECTRE in 2015 that it would come to this again. Uncertainty, silence and probably impasse… again after four films, by the way.
I hope the next distributor will get a clear deal for at least the next six films so we will only have to worry about casting again in this upcoming era.
Then again, with Brexit about to hit hard in the next decade, maybe Bond will go into hibernation anyway. A British superspy? Underfunded and ridiculed?
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There’s an SNL sketch right there.
I cannot see how they could possibly miss the 2022 anniversary. Whichever way this will turn out, there will surely be a Bond film in cinemas in 2022. And if it’s BOND 26 with Craig’s successor then they will also want to move fast on BOND 27 to establish the new guy.
But to do so they will surely need a secure basis with their partner, MGM and whatever distribution/finance deal they can come up with.
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I know I will be in the minority saying this but I would be more than fine skipping Craig’s last film and just going with a new Bond in 2022. Sometimes a little time off can be a good thing…
Well, a “little time off” would mean 007 years then…
And in these fast moving times no Bond film in between would pose a gigantic problem for market awareness. While us old folks naturally would remember that there is such a thing as continual Bond films the all important younger generation, constantly bombarded with Marvel, Star Wars etc., would have to be reminded big time that James Bond is not just your father’s, uncle´s, older brother´s idea of a good time at the movies.
However, if things don’t move fast I fear that BOND 25 with Craig will become the new “third Dalton Bond” - a thing for fans´ fantasies.
And indeed, the anniversary in 2022 would be too good an idea to miss.
Unless EON/MGM will decide: okay, no CraigBond in 2019 but a new Bond in 2020 and then BOND 26 with the new actor as the big anniversary celebration.
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Everything Or Nothing. EON is certainly living up to the latter. It really is feast or famine with them.
I don’t really see it that way, I think we’re just getting antsy for news to chew on. Just because something hasn’t been announced doesn’t mean something hasn’t happened. QOS went into production at the same time of year Bond 25 will be and Marc Forster wasn’t announced as director until July…
Agreed, we’re getting antsy. And we only have rumors to base our speculations on.
But with QOS there was a distribution deal in place, and everybody was keen to deliver the follow-up to CR. There was no question that a director would be found in time and production would start, especially with the looming writers´ strike at that time putting even more pressure on it. There also had been news about Roger Michell helming.
This time: no distribution deal, no official news from EON starting pre-production, scouting locations, giving some snippets on co-stars etc.
We only have a tentative release date and Craig´s vow to return. With reported rumors of a P&W script maybe getting canned if Boyle & Hodges come up with a persuasive script in the next couple of months which would cut things very short to meet the deadline. And the recent news of Boyle not being available this summer due to his own project which would prohibit him from diving into pre-production for BOND 25. Also, Demange as a possible alternative has filled up his calendar and will hardly be available either.
Very different situation from the build-up to QOS.
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Oh I’m certainly aware that things are happening behind the scenes we aren’t privy to and EON could be keeping an extremely tight lid because of the Sony hack but it’s not the lack of news that bothers me, its the lack of movies. The fact that EON has only produced four Bond films in the last 12 years is really depressing considering they made four with Brosnan in only seven.
I know a lot of this is outside of EON’s control, and the delay for The Rhythm Section was unexpected, but I would really like to see some stability return to the series.
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