Could Fox Takeover Distribution Rights of James Bond Franchise From MGM? [Update]
Update - Just got an email from my MGM contact and he told me all this information is in fact incorrect regarding 20th Century Fox getting distribution rights of James Bond. “EON still behind Bond but we control worldwide.” He also told me that they plan to announce a distribution strategy and release date in “due time.”
I saw this story over at my pal’s site The Stub and I was curious about it being that it is a fairly large scoop regarding the fate of the Bond franchise at MGM. In case you haven’t been following. MGM is in debt and have lots interest on that debt. In order to reconcile that debt MGM wants to delay paying the interest off and allow 3 of their big projects to get off the ground. They have received a stay of execution for The Hobbit but not much was said on Bond, which according to MGM, if they lost they wouldn’t survive.
Now our other friends over at WAMG via Rodney at The Stub say that:
“A source close to the dealings has let We Are Movie Geeks know that Bond is alive and well, and will be settling into his new domicile for marketing and distribution at 20th Century Fox. That’s right, expect the official word to come out any day now, but it looks like ‘Bond 23′ is going to be running behind the Fox banner.”
Albert Broccoli’s family company, Danjaq, has held ownership of the James Bond film series through EON, and maintained co-ownership with United Artists since the mid-1970s.
When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) bought UA in 1981, MGM/UA Entertainment Co. was formed and distributed the films until 1995.
Then MGM solely distributed three films from 1997 to 2002 after UA retired as a mainstream studio. From 2006 to the present MGM and Columbia Pictures have co-distributed the franchise, as Columbia’s parent company, Sony Pictures Entertainment bought MGM in 2005.
So what we are potentially looking at here is the official rights of Bond will always stay with the Broccoli family but its the distribution and marketing rights that important to the studios. MGM claims they can’t survive without Bond and that is probably true. They could dissolve and their properties minus the Hobbit..for now could be sold off. It seems like the Fox is a good fit as they co-distributed Die Another Day with MGM back in 2002 and Fox has handled all home video and international marketing for MGM before they were bought by Sony.
I think that this is clearly explained so that you all understand the difference between ownership rights and distribution rights. Bond switching to Fox for marketing and distribution is no different than Iron Man switching from Paramount to Dreamworks. Marvel still owns the character, the Broccoli family/MGM share ownership of Bond. This is a huge loss to MGM/Sony from a distribution standpoint as they have had Bond for such a long time. Now there is still a possibility they could co-distribute being they share ownership with Broccoli and the “source’s” info is somewhat vague on that piece. I definitely expect to hear more soon but creative control of the character will still be intact regardless of the distribution rights holder that much is evident.
