Bond Series Back On Track

Anyone who knows me is aware of my affinity for film. And those who know that probably know my favorite series is the James Bond movies. It is a guilty pleasure of mine and the 22 films released through the Broccoli/Saltzman group are ones I can watch again and again. So I recently received some great news regarding the 007 series as it has recently been in limbo due to financial concerns for MGM.
Following a Manhattan federal bankruptcy court judge’s ruling yesterday, MGM 30 days to seek final approval of its reorganization plan. The former movie making giant has been the financier and distributor of the film series, despite EON Productions owning the rights.
The courtroom hearing scene comes a day after MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to a report from unofficial James Bond website mi6.co.uk, the company’s prepackaged plan proposes to eliminate $5 billion in debt by converting a loan through JPMorgan into the new stock in the reorganized company. Spyglass Entertainment chiefs will be overseeing MGM with a holding of less than 1% of the new company once it crawls out of its bankruptcy woes.
The good news for me in all of this is that the 23rd James Bond film is slated to open in November of 2012, with additional adventures for the English spy to continue every two years after that. I did not become a fan of the series until my senior year in high school, so I was not on the regular schedule of two years in between films like it was in the late 60s, 70s and early 80s.
Mi6.co.uk said, “Two potential suitors for Bond 23 financing and distribution are Paramount and Sony. Sony distributed the last two James Bond outings under the agreement reached when the company was part of the consortium that took over MGM in 2005. Sony have made it public that they would love to be involved again, but it looks like a bidding war between rival distributors will be taking place before Bond 23 is officially green-lit.”
Along with the Bond franchise, MGM’s assets include a half interest in “The Hobbit” films, its name and logo, the United Artists operations, and a library with more than 4,000 titles.
2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the EON Productions series of James Bond films.