A surprising victor has emerged in the battle to distribute the 25th James Bond adventure, that Daniel Craig is set to start filming next year. Sony Pictures has distributed every 007 adventure since Casino Royale, but the next Bond movie is set to be put out in the US by Annapurna. Annapurna, best known for being a production company, is moving into distribution, and has inked a joint venture with MGM to enable it to do so.
Given that MGM is a stakeholder in the James Bond films, this makes Annapurna’s emergence at the top of the bidding war less surprising than it might otherwise be. Crucially, though, the deal – set to be closed in the next week or so – only covers American distribution rights. Outside of the US, where Bond does around three quarters of his business, three studios are in contention. They are Sony, Warner Bros and Universal. It’s unclear which of those three is the favourite.
James Bond 25 goes into production next year ahead of its November 2019 debut. There’s still no director in place.
We’ll keep you posted as we hear more…