Tag archive: MGM

Despite the greatest threat James Bond has ever faced—the near collapse of its distributor MGM—the franchise is back on track, and yesterday filming began on Bond 23, now officially known as Skyfall. The film will once again star Daniel Craig as Bond, and while it will be a spiritual sequel to Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Away We Go) has said that Skyfall will not be a direct sequel. The… Read More

The remake of the 1984 film Red Dawn might actually be cursed. Either that or the whole things was a mess from the start. The film was originally given the greenlight back in 2008, and first time director Dan Bradley was hired, but it took over a year for the project to actually begin filming. Principle photography finally began in Fall of 2009, and the film finished filming by late Spring of 2010, but then MGM happened. Although originally… Read More

It's official: Daniel Craig is returning as James Bond in the upcoming, still unnamed, Bond 23. The film will begin shooting toward the end of this year and hit theaters on Nov. 9, 2012, according to MGM and EON, the companies responsible for the film. Production on Bond was resumed in November 2010, and director Sam Mendes confirmed he would still helm the film in early December. It has been a long road for Bond 23. Production on the… Read More

It was never a question of if James Bond would return, just when and how. Following the success of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, a third film with Daniel Craig as Bond was never doubted, and things were moving along at a good pace when it was first announced that Oscar winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Away We Go) had agreed to direct the 23rd Bond film. Then MGM happened. The studio’s financial woes have been painfully well… Read More

Fans of James Bond have been having their emotions toyed with over the past few months, primarily due to the legal and financial shenanigans that have gripped MGM, the studio that owns the rights to James Bond. Things were looking good for the franchise following the two Daniel Craig movies, and a third film with Craig had lined up Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes to helm it — all was good in the Bondiverse.  Then someone at MGM forgot to… Read More

Good news for fans of James Bond — MGM sucks a little less! If you have managed to skip all the ridiculousness going on at MGM, things were looking bleak for the next film in the James Bond franchise, despite the fact that the film itself was ready to go and the franchise was doing extremely well following the Daniel-Craig-led reboot. Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Away We Go) was on board to direct, and the cast… Read More

After months of delays that have already cost the film the benefit of Guillermo del Toro as a director, The Wrap.com is reporting that MGM and Warner Bros. have agreed to greenlight The Hobbit with Peter Jackson attached as writer, director and producer. What originally seemed like a no-brainer to reach the screen hit a roadblock following the near total collapse of MGM under $4 billion of debt. The company went up for sale but the financial… Read More

Despite the apparent best efforts of MGM to kill each and every one of its franchises due to its massive debt (see the aborted Sam Mendes directed James Bond movie that is in limbo), Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit continues to push through pre-production and casting. According to a new report from Entertainment Weekly, the starring role of Bilbo Baggins has been offered to English actor Martin Freeman, and that producers are willing to work with… Read More

This weekend, Guillermo del Toro announced on the J.R.R. Tolkien fansite TheOneRing.net, that he would be stepping down as director of the two Hobbit movies that serve as a prequel to the Lord of the Rings. He will remain on to help producer Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh finish the scripts. Del Toro has spent the last two years in New Zealand working with Jackson’s company to prepare for the movies, but despite a scheduled… Read More

Online video sharing service YouTube might be best known for amateur videos and short clips, but Google's effort to monetize the service is luring in more full-length content from major Hollywood studios. Last month, YouTube launched full-length programming from CBS; now, YouTube has told Reuters it will be offering full-length television shows and movies from MGM. The move would make MGM the first studio to offer full-length movies… Read More

Film studio MGM announced today it will support Sony's Blu-Ray DVD disk format. MGM plans to begin releasing material when the new Blu-Ray hardware is available in North America, Japan. and Europe; the studio's large library includes television programming and more than 4,000 films, including the lucrative James Bond franchise. The announcement was not considered a surprise by industry watchers, since MGM was acquired in April… Read More

The Japanese electronics and media giant and private equity partners plan to pay $13 for each share of MGM plus the assumption of debt. The parties expect to announce the deal before MGM's annual meeting on June 29. MGM shares closed Thursday at $12.17, off 8 cents. The sale of MGM would mark another milestone for 87-year-old billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who owns 75% of the last major independent film studio. Earlier this week,… Read More