ITV

Tag: EON

  • Is Sony Pictures getting a raw deal as studios war over Bond rights?

    MUMBAI: Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Fox are among the Hollywood studio majors fighting for the rights to distribute ‘Bond 25’. Universal Pictures, Times and Annapurna are also warring for the rights to distribute the forthcoming James Bond movie.

    The rights to all 007 films are owned by EON and MGM, but they only produce the movies and need a distributor to handle the marketing, PTI reported. Sony Pictures was chosen for the job starting with ‘Casino Royale’ in 2006 and continued until 2015 with ‘Spectre’.

    Sony, under its previous agreement, paid 50 per cent of the production costs for ‘Spectre’ — which was around USD 250 million — but only received 25 per cent of certain profits, once costs were recouped, according to a report.

    Sony also shelled out tens of millions of dollars for the sake of marketing and gave MGM a share of the profit from non-Bond films Sony had in its pipeline, including ’22 Jump Street’.

    Now, MGM and EON are allegedly offering a one-film contract only. MGM, which is owned by private equity firms, including Anchorage Capital Partners, probably wants to keep its options open as it considers a public offer or sale, the report added.

  • Sam Mendes returns to direct Bond 24, Daniel Craig returns as british spy

    Sam Mendes returns to direct Bond 24, Daniel Craig returns as british spy

    NEW DELHI: Daniel Craig will once again return as the legendary British secret agent in the 24th James Bond film and Sam Mendes will also return to direct the screenplay written by John Logan.

    Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, EON Productions; Gary Barber, Chairman & CEO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Michael Lynton, CEO, Sony Entertainment and Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, announced in Culver City in California that the film is set for release in UK theaters on 23 October 2015 and in US theaters on 6 November that year.

    Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film, took in $1.1 billion worldwide and set a new mark as the highest-grossing film of all time in the UK; it was the best-selling Bond film on DVD/Blu-ray and was the most critically acclaimed film in the history of the longest-running film franchise.

    Commenting on the announcement, Wilson and Broccoli said, “Following the extraordinary success of Skyfall, we‘re really excited to be working once again with Daniel Craig, Sam Mendes and John Logan.”

    “I am very pleased that by giving me the time I need to honour all my theatre commitments, the producers have made it possible for me to direct Bond 24. I very much look forward to taking up the reins again, and to working with Daniel Craig, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for a second time,” said Mendes.

    Barber added, “We are thrilled to reunite the extraordinary talents of director Sam Mendes with our star Daniel Craig for the next great Bond adventure.” He added, “As evidenced by the phenomenal success of our last collaboration with EON Productions and Sony, the incredible legacy of this 51-year-old franchise continues to amaze.”

    Lynton and Pascal said, “It‘s a privilege to work on the Bond films. EON, John Logan and Sam Mendes have come up with an extraordinary follow up to Skyfall and we, along with our partners at MGM, can‘t wait to share this new chapter with audiences all over the world.”