The next arch villain will have a long time to wait before uttering the phrase: "Come in Mr Bond." Given MGM's severe financial woes, Bond's owners and producers have had to put production of Bond 23 on an indefinite hold.
EON is the production company that owns the rights to make the Bond films, but the distribution contract is with MGM - and MGM is in Stromberg's elevator, the floor splitting apart and one very hungry shark beneath!
But, as is tradition, Bond will return: the two Daniel Craig movies combined made $1.2bn worldwide, so if MGM fails, another distribution deal will be struck - almost certainly with Sony, which has been keen to get its hands on Bond for generations.
Craig's third installment as Bond was expected in 2011 or 2012, which at four years would be the joint second-longest break between Bond films (shared with the gap between Die Another Day and Casino Royale - 2002 to 2006). The longest break is the six years between the end of Timothy Dalton in Licence To Kill in 1989 and the start of Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye in 1995.
Looking back, you can understand why Sean Connery got burned out/bored by Bond so quickly: Dr No was released in 1962 and his fourth, Thunderball (if I recall correctly, the most successful Bond film at the box office once corrected for inflation), arrived in 1965. He had two years off before being lured back to Twice and then walked away only to return in 1971 with Diamonds.
Roger Moore appeared in his first two in the space of two years (ditto Tim Dalton) before a three-year gap allowed Spy to flourish in 1977. Thereafter, there was a Bond film every two years up to and including Dalton's farewell in 89.
Brosnan delivered one every two years from 1995 to 1999, and then there was a three-year hiatus until DAD. And the rest is recent history.
Given that EON will now have an enforced lay-off, I hope they take the time to select a top writer and a top director (Ridley Scott please!!!) to correct the mistakes of Quantum and give Daniel Craig a fitting finale.
Finale? That's right! Given the delay, he'll be too old for a fourth installment, so a new Bond will be needed - and I offer the obvious choice for the job: Michael Fassbender.
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Monday 19 April 2010
May v June v July
Which is the bigger month for cinema-going? In the US, July probably nudges May, but June is a big loser every two years in Europe because of the European Cup and the World Cup tournaments, so distributors load their bases in the months either side - and this year is one of those occasions.
In the UK, May opens with Iron Man 2, looking to beat the $581.6m haul of the original two years ago. That gets a shot at a second week at number one before Robin Hood opens on 14 May. One week later Disney unleashes the new Pirates - The Prince Of Persia. And finally May concludes with SATC 2.
This year, June sees no major releases whatsoever...
July hits the ground running with a double whammy of Shrek 4 and the Cruise/Diaz vehicle Knight And Day, followed by the third part of the Twilight saga, and then Christopher Nolan's Inception (surely that will be this year's greatest headfuck). The final two weeks see the arrival of box office behemoth Toy Story 3 (will it have a shot at Avatar's records?), followed by the A-Team and the remake of the Karate Kid on the final Friday of the month.
I've put those that I want to see in bold...
Meanwhile, my 'to see' list to the end of May looks like this:
• The Ghost
• Cemetry Juction
• Whip It
• Erasing David
• Iron Man 2
• I Am Love
• Four Lions
• Centurion
• Dogtooth
• Robin Hood
• The Losers
• The Special Relationship
In the UK, May opens with Iron Man 2, looking to beat the $581.6m haul of the original two years ago. That gets a shot at a second week at number one before Robin Hood opens on 14 May. One week later Disney unleashes the new Pirates - The Prince Of Persia. And finally May concludes with SATC 2.
This year, June sees no major releases whatsoever...
July hits the ground running with a double whammy of Shrek 4 and the Cruise/Diaz vehicle Knight And Day, followed by the third part of the Twilight saga, and then Christopher Nolan's Inception (surely that will be this year's greatest headfuck). The final two weeks see the arrival of box office behemoth Toy Story 3 (will it have a shot at Avatar's records?), followed by the A-Team and the remake of the Karate Kid on the final Friday of the month.
I've put those that I want to see in bold...
Meanwhile, my 'to see' list to the end of May looks like this:
• The Ghost
• Cemetry Juction
• Whip It
• Erasing David
• Iron Man 2
• I Am Love
• Four Lions
• Centurion
• Dogtooth
• Robin Hood
• The Losers
• The Special Relationship
Saturday 17 April 2010
The French love Disney
The French, for all their justified concern about US culture destroying their own, love America: film noir, the films of Hitchcock, the songs of Bob Dylan - and they realised how great Clint Eastwood is long before the rest of the world did (one-third of Invictus's international box office came from France). They also love Walt Disney...
No, really. Last month's Screen International features a focus on France; this lists the top 20 most popular films of all time in France. Crucially, the measurement is admissions rather than box office take. First place is probably not that shocking, but check out the number of classic Disneys on the list.
1. Titanic (1998) - 20.6m
2. Welcome To The Sticks (2008) - 20.4m
3. Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At (1966) - 17.3m
4. Gone With The Wind (1950) - 16.7m
5. Once Upon A Time In The West (1969) - 14.9m
6. The Jungle Book (1968) - 14.7m
7. 101 Dalmations (1961) - 14.6m
8. Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002) - 14.4m
9. The 10 Commandments (1958) - 14.2m
10. Avatar (2009) - 14.1m
11. Ben Hur (1960) - 13.9m
12. The Visitors (1993) - 13.7m
13. The Bridge Over The River Kwai (1957) - 13.5m
14. Cinderella (1950) - 13.2m
15. The Little World Of Do Camillo (1952) - 12.8m
16. The Arisocats (1971) - 12.6m
17. The Longest Day (1962) - 11.9m
18. The Sucker (1956) - 11.7m
19. Lady And The Tramp (1955) - 11.2m
20. Bambi (1947) - 10.7m
No, really. Last month's Screen International features a focus on France; this lists the top 20 most popular films of all time in France. Crucially, the measurement is admissions rather than box office take. First place is probably not that shocking, but check out the number of classic Disneys on the list.
1. Titanic (1998) - 20.6m
2. Welcome To The Sticks (2008) - 20.4m
3. Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At (1966) - 17.3m
4. Gone With The Wind (1950) - 16.7m
5. Once Upon A Time In The West (1969) - 14.9m
6. The Jungle Book (1968) - 14.7m
7. 101 Dalmations (1961) - 14.6m
8. Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002) - 14.4m
9. The 10 Commandments (1958) - 14.2m
10. Avatar (2009) - 14.1m
11. Ben Hur (1960) - 13.9m
12. The Visitors (1993) - 13.7m
13. The Bridge Over The River Kwai (1957) - 13.5m
14. Cinderella (1950) - 13.2m
15. The Little World Of Do Camillo (1952) - 12.8m
16. The Arisocats (1971) - 12.6m
17. The Longest Day (1962) - 11.9m
18. The Sucker (1956) - 11.7m
19. Lady And The Tramp (1955) - 11.2m
20. Bambi (1947) - 10.7m
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