James Bond moving to 20th Century Fox?, UPDATE: Rumours denied Options

[zencat]

MGM debunks rumours of Fox takeover of James Bond

007 stays with the lion

BIG news if true.

http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2009/10/wamg-ex...d-distribution/

[Quantumofsolace0...]

it is big news in the sense that it should confirm that yes bond 23 is coming out yes in 2011 yes with Daniel Craig which should elimnate the fears of most.

[blueman]

Gotta make that Bond money!

Not surprising.

[MattofSteel]

This is just for distribution, right? And marketing? Similar to what Sony has done for the last two films?

[Mr. Somerset]

Yay.

[Righty007]

This might actually be cool in front of a Bond film. Nothing beats the UA and MGM logos though.

[tdalton]

Anywhere but Fox would have been a suitable place for EON to land, but instead Bond might land at the doorstep of the studio that makes a living on ruining perfectly good franchises. Wonderful.

[Cody]

Anywhere but Fox would have been a suitable place for EON to land, but instead Bond might land at the doorstep of the studio that makes a living on ruining perfectly good franchises. Wonderful.

That was my thought upon seeing the headline - vocally expressed as, "Oh God, no!" - but if Fox just handles distribution/marketing and doesn't get involved with development, we might be safe.

[tdalton]

Anywhere but Fox would have been a suitable place for EON to land, but instead Bond might land at the doorstep of the studio that makes a living on ruining perfectly good franchises. Wonderful.

That was my thought upon seeing the headline - vocally expressed as, "Oh God, no!" - but if Fox just handles distribution/marketing and doesn't get involved with development, we might be safe.

Well, hopefully they can stay completely out of the creative aspects of the film, because if they try to meddle there, I think that it would cause me to look back at the Brosnan Era with very fond memories when comparing it to what Fox would do to the franchise. I think that Fox will want some say into it, however. The big question will be whether Fox will allow EON the same amount of creative freedom that Sony allowed them when they went out and cast Daniel Craig, scaled back the action, went with almost completely unknown actors, turned the overall tone of the franchise significantly darker than it had been before, etc. While I certainly hope that they allow EON to continue doing whatever it was that they wanted to do with Bond 23, I fear that they won't.

[Safari Suit]

Why are Fox so reviled by many online? This is a genuine question not an expression of contempt.

[zencat]

Anywhere but Fox would have been a suitable place for EON to land, but instead Bond might land at the doorstep of the studio that makes a living on ruining perfectly good franchises. Wonderful.

That was my thought upon seeing the headline - vocally expressed as, "Oh God, no!" - but if Fox just handles distribution/marketing and doesn't get involved with development, we might be safe.

All studios get involved with development, casting, etc.

[MattofSteel]

Anywhere but Fox would have been a suitable place for EON to land, but instead Bond might land at the doorstep of the studio that makes a living on ruining perfectly good franchises. Wonderful.

That's why I asked exactly what level of involvement this means. I know EON will ultimately control the product, and they've passed through now a couple studios and multiple executives over the course of 40 years.

But Fox does have a habit of absolutely ruining theatrical products lately.

[tdalton]

Why are Fox so reviled by many online? This is a genuine question not an expression of contempt.

They're terrible with franchise films (or just films in general, as there are very few films out of Fox that I like at all).

A sampling of their franchise fare over the last few years:

X-Men
X2
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Alien vs. Predator
AVP: Requiem
Daredevil
Elektra
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther 2
Live Free or Die Hard
Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
The X-Files: I Want To Believe
Jumper
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li


Yes, Bond is now in the hands of the studio that made the "classics" listed above.

[Mharkin]

I'm looking forward to this. No matter what anyone else thinks.

[jaguar007]

The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther 2

Pink Panther was MGM, not FOX.

Also, I though the first two X men movies were pretty good.

[Mharkin]

I liked Die Hard 4. Plus, I don't think EON will let them kill the franchise.

[tdalton]

The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther 2

Pink Panther was MGM, not FOX.

Also, I though the first two X men movies were pretty good.

You're right, although somehow both of those films got put onto a list of 20th Century Fox films that I was reading a few minutes ago. Apparently, in re-reading it, Fox only handled the international distribution of those two films. My mistake. Certainly wasn't trying to mislead anyone.

[Quantumofsolace0...]

Fox is also doing The A-team...
that is supposed to be a good thing ... i forget why


Seriously though this changes very little Eon is in control of James bond not UA MGM Sony or Fox. Fox will mearly be bankrolling it. asuming this is all true of course.

[tdalton]

Fox is also doing The A-team...
that is supposed to be a good thing ... i forget why


Seriously though this changes very little Eon is in control of James bond not UA MGM Sony or Fox. Fox is mearly bankrolling it.

As Zencat stated earlier in the thread:

All studios get involved with development, casting, etc.

This is what makes this move bad news for the Bond franchise. EON can think that they're going to maintain creative control all that they want, but when it comes down to it, if 20th Century Fox wants certain things or certain people in the film, EON is in absolutely no position to say no to them, as Fox will be the people signing all of the checks.

[Bucky]

fox just seems to have a compulsion with cutting up movies to make them shorter and in the process worse. end up just hurting themselves as these films end up getting bad word of mouth and dont do as well as if they were longer and had gotten good reviews.

[jaguar007]

I had really hoped that Sony would end up with the Bond franchise. Still, this is better news than having Bond be in limbo for the next couple of years.

[jaguar007]

They're terrible with franchise films (or just films in general, as there are very few films out of Fox that I like at all).

WOW, I just looked at a list of all the films FOX distributed ever, it has been quite a few years since they released a really great movie.

On the plus side maybe they will let EON alone, afterall they released the Date Movie, Epic Movie etc so obviously they don't seem to put their hand into "quality control" too much...or do they

[zencat]

I had really hoped that Sony would end up with the Bond franchise. Still, this is better news than having Bond be in limbo for the next couple of years.

I'd like to see it stay at Sony as well. Seemed like a good match.

Of course, we don't know if this Fox news is true. I've never heard of this site that reported it as their own "exclusive." Now if it shows up on Nikki Finke, we can start to worry.

[Quantumofsolace0...]

i jsut don't see Fox making a lot of changes. I mean if Eon knows what they are doing let them do what they do best... right?

there has to be some level of trust right.


I know someone over at mi6 believe with bond going over to fox Michael Apted is a shoe in for director choice.

[tdalton]

They're terrible with franchise films (or just films in general, as there are very few films out of Fox that I like at all).

WOW, I just looked at a list of all the films FOX distributed ever, it has been quite a few years since they released a really great movie.

It's a terrible list of movies, isn't it? I honestly think that I could probably count on one hand the number of Fox movies that I've enjoyed.

[Safari Suit]

Ever? I admit I'm amazed by how poor their resume is looking at it now, but they made more than five great movies in the 70s alone.

[MattofSteel]

That's certainly my "contemporary" concern with the films landing at Fox.

They've ruined more movies I've been looking forward to in the last 5 or 10 years than I'd care to remember. Or at the very least, whether it was Fox's fault or not, they have certainly failed to disappoint.

There's just a certain element of, I don't know, "class" I associate with Bond that I don't see matching up with Bond. Perhaps I'm a victim of the liberal media bias?

[tdalton]

Ever? I admit I'm amazed by how poor their resume is looking at it now, but they made more than five great movies in the 70s alone.

I'm referring more to the last decade or two moreso than back into the 80s or the 70s (or before that). The studio, as it is currently set up, has produced nothing that even approaches being noteworthy over at least the last decade. There have been a couple of good films produced by Fox in the last decade or so, but other than that it's just been one awful movie after another.

[MattofSteel]

That's certainly my "contemporary" concern with the films landing at Fox.

They've ruined more movies I've been looking forward to in the last 5 or 10 years than I'd care to remember. Or at the very least, whether it was Fox's fault or not, they have certainly failed to disappoint.

There's just a certain element of, I don't know, "class" I associate with Bond that I don't see matching up with Fox. Perhaps I'm a victim of the liberal media bias?

[Loomis]

MGM hardly seemed the most competent studio. Aside from the Bonds and ROCKY BALBOA, I'll hazard a guess that most of their output over the past few years has been awful. As long as Eon Productions remain the makers of the 007 outings, I don't see a problem with the series going to Fox. Broccoli and Wilson won't relinquish control, surely?

In any case, Fox has been responsible for some wonderful films in recent years, albeit largely through its "indie" wing Fox Searchlight.