I’m a pretty blatant espionage thriller fan. I make all of zero effort to hide my love of stupid gadgets, unlikely fight scenes and Aston Martin DB5s. As such, I’ve really enjoyed the Craig era Bond films and I’m not alone given the fact that 2012’s Skyfall managed to rake in over a billion dollars. Quantum and Casino Royale didn’t fare too shabby either, netting a combined billion dollars themselves at the box office.
Given that, you would think that MGM and EON, the holders to the rights to Ian Flemming’s most famous franchise, would be pretty pleased with the deal they have with Sony, the studio that has put the films out since 2006. However, the deal as it stands expires with the US release of Spectre next month and it doesn’t look like MGM or EON Productions is doing much to hide the fact they’re shopping around for other homes.
There also seems to be some internal conflict at Sony regarding how little money the films have made for the studio under the Amy Pascal deal. Shockingly, Sony only pocketed $57mm of that billion dollar whopper from Skyfall and her replacement, Tom Rothman, is famously aggressive when it comes to P&L so it’s easy to understand how the uncertainty has arisen, especially when factored in with how intensely other studios, such as Warner Bros. are courting the franchise.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Bond, but the Craig era has really done a lot to revitalize the 62 year old character. Who really knows what will happen now, but it’s clear that Sony has done a pretty bang up job. It’d be a shame to lose that momentum.
