“James Bond will return…” Fans have been reading this sentence at the end of each entry in the cinematic 007 series. But the current question is: Will the world’s most popular secret agent return this time as well?  After recent statement by producers, this has become perfectly unclear, as the 23rd film of the franchise has been put on indefinite hold. The reason behind it is the financial state of MGM, the studio which owns the rights to the Bond pictures. When and how 007 will come back is up in the air:

“Due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of the studio, we have suspended development on BOND 23 indefinitely. We do not know when development will resume and do not have a date for the release of BOND 23,” stated Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli jointly. [1]

Even though it is the most successful series, and 2008’s “Quantum Of Solace” made about $600 million at the box office until April 2009 [2], apparently the risks involved in making a movie for a virtually bankrupt studio were too much for the producers to go ahead with the yet untitled project. MGM reportedly has debts of close to $4 billion, is unable to fund a blockbuster and put itself up for sale in November 2009. The decision to halt development is evidently backed by leading man Daniel Craig, who starred as 007 in the latest two Bond films. He was quoted as follows by BBC News:

“I have every confidence in Barbara and Michael’s decision and look forward to production and look forward to production resuming as quickly as possible.” [3]

While this may sound promising, and given the actor’s track record in the role of the secret agent, nobody in the industry currently believes that Craig will quit, one never knows how long this saga will drag on. After all, this is not the first time the series the series has been on hold. It also happened for several years in the early 1990s, again because of problems within MGM. BOND 17 was scheduled for a 1991 shooting and release, with Timothy Dalton to reprise the role after his performances as 007 in 1987’s “The Living Daylights” and 1989’s “Licence To Kill.” When the litigation surrounding the studio was finally settled in 1993, the actor’s contract had expired and he, upon being disappointed with the drafts of the screenplay, decided to step away from the franchise in 1994. Another year passed before James Bond finally returned in GoldenEye in 1995, then with Pierce Brosnan playing the world’s most famous super-spy and six years after work on the 17th entry had initially commenced. [4] Even though ‘this was then, and now is now,’ to use an English proverb here, die-hard fans of the secret agent must have been wondering – at least subconsciously – if the current situation might not end up in history repeating itself when everything will be said and done. After the success of the last two films and the general acceptance among fans and public acclaim that Craig has received, this would truly be a disaster.

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1. http://www.jamesbond.de (accessed on 22 April 2010).
2. cf. http://commanderbond.net/5743/quantum-of-solace-box-office-details.html (accessed on 22 April 2010).
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8631245.stm (accessed on 22 April 2010).
4.  cf. http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/articles/bond_17_intro.php3 (accessed on 22 April 2010).