20th Century Fox makes pitch to MGM for Bond 23
I think it is obvious now that MGM will likely not be distributing Bond 23. It was only a few days ago that The Hollywood Reporter reported on Paramount Pictures making a pitch to distribute. Today they report that 20th Century Fox made a pitch to MGM last Friday for James Bond’s 23rd cinematic mission. Columbia Pictures is also for sure in the mix as a possible distributor of the series. Previously Columbia distributed Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. It makes sense that these aren’t the only studios clawing for 007. Practically every studio out there wants Bond. Why wouldn’t they? The question is whether they’re willing to accept MGM’s deal, and according to the previous report this deal could be huge, possibly one of the biggest the industry has ever seen since it likely doesn’t just factor Bond 23, but also a number of sequels.
20th Century Fox already has an in with MGM as well as the Bond world. They’re currently responsible for distributing MGM’s films overseas as well as MGM’s library on DVD which includes James Bond. Of course that doesn’t necessarily give them a leg up on the competition. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are said to favor Columbia Pictures due to their already established relationship on the previous two films, and Paramount has a good working relationship with MGM’s new CEOs’ Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum based on their past collaborations (namely Star Trek).