What little can be observed from the outside suggests whatever happens or doesn’t happen behind scenes hinges, for better or worse, on the distribution deal. Secrecy of events, always a thing with Bond, gets you only ever so far; after that a player simply has to move.
Meanwhile, reports show that at least some kind of activity has already unfolded, perhaps even with a ‘plan B’ now. If these reports are correct - and we have no reason to doubt them - then at least Eon seem to be prepared to keep their end up. Always assuming The Rhythm Section can be wrapped without further delay.
On the distribution deal, we can only guess what keeps this from being finalised. But it’s not truly conceivable this would stay in limbo for much longer.
I searched through the archives of another Bond site for it’s Skyfall news to see what the timeline was like for such news events…
The movie was announced in January, much later than 25 was. News of scouting locations didn’t begin until April (India was the first) and were more concentrated to over that summer. News of co-stars didn’t come out until October (Bardem) with some others not coming until production had started (Fiennes).
I just see no reason to think anything has gone off the rails at all. James Bond Will Return, damnit!
I do like that EON is branching out into non Bond properties. I would be great if they could put out films annually with Bond being every two to three years. Sort of similar to how Lucasfilm had both Star Wars and Indiana Jones going at the same time. If they were successful it would make for an overall stronger company that isn’t completely dependent on Bond and would bring in revenue during non Bond years.
It would also be a great place to cultivate relationships with new talent both in front of and behind the camera to later promote up to a Bond picture.
It wasn’t with Skyfall. They couldn’t officially hire Mendes as director because of it. He was first approached whilst EON were doing A Steady Rain (mid 2009) and began work not long after as “consultant with eye to direct” but wasn’t hired as director until December 2010 entirely because of MGM’s last financial problems.
What happened (if I remember correctly) with Mendes and Skyfall is that MGM had distribution rights for Bond 23 but were going through bankruptcy proceedings. Contractually, once Eon signed a director they were due to receive their first payment from MGM. Because they didn’t want to complicate MGM’s issues (which would further push production out) they hired Mendes as a “consultant” until things were finalized.
Ah yes, I couldn’t remember the exact one MGM hit for that particular gap - was unsure which was MGM bankruptcy and which was their “downsizing” (where they sold off their stakes in several cable tv channels to try and stop it)
Point is - EON might be further along than they seem, but can’t announce anything yet or simply don’t to as, now I think about it, EON have never been as keen to announce things as say Marvel or Lucasfilm
However, the new distribution deal was something that should have been cut and dried ages ago - at least according to most observers, amongst them people closer to MGM than we are. And yet, it wasn’t. That should perhaps tell us it’s more complex than one would guess from the outside.
There have been some ambitious announcements from MGM; no doubt their partners at Annapurna were just as ambitious. It shouldn’t surprise us that some of that vision provides ample concrete hurdles when it comes to making it happen. And let’s not kid ourselves: the sooner this deal is signed the more clarity the players have in their business activities. There is no reason to keep it under wraps once the ink on the contract has dried.
I hated the first two Mission: Impossible movies but J.J. Abrams stopped the bleeding while Brad Bird and Christopher McQuarrie gave it new life. Everybody thought the franchise was dead there for awhile but it’s been a remarkable turnaround and a nice diversion while we wait for the next Bond film.