If you’re looking for signifiers of the movie biz’s current volatility (mid or post recession?) it’d be hard to find something more dramatic than the difficulty Bond #23 is having.
Think about it… you’re pretty much guaranteed one of these every couple years. The last two were even big hits! And yet, at the moment, you’re a lot more likely to see Daniel Craig as 007 in a video game, which is almost like saying there might not being a Super Bowl next year, but you can still play Madden.
We may be getting a little closer to seeing Bond back in the tux with a PPK in hand, though. Deadline’s got some early rumbling that all the current problems might be sorted out in time for the movie to start shooting next year for November ’12 release. Spyglass would produce while distribution rights might come down to a contest between Fox, Sony, Paramount and the WB. They’re also saying that Russell Beal might be in it, in some role.
There seem to be conflicting statements about whether Sam Mendes is still going to direct. If it weren’t for the timing, I would’ve suggested that Christopher Nolan might take it over, but he’s obviously going to be very, very busy then. Considering his earlier statements about wanting to take on Bond someday and his recent after- Inception comments about liking to alternate between original movies and already-defined worlds like in Batman, my hunch tells me it's an inevitability. At least, it’s more feasible than Tarantino doing one.
