Listen In On MGM’s Plans For 007

Did you know you, or I, or anyone, can just listen in on MGM investor conference calls online? They just put them on the site for anyone to hear. Seriously, go check it out.

That's wild to me! Anyhow, the studio's year-end conference call has some info in there of interest to us slobs on the street. At the end of the call they take questions from investors, and they drop little morsels like “A Creed squel is currently in development”, “23 Jump Street is in the pipeline,” etc. On the 007 front, an exec notes that “Bond is the most valuable property that we have, and it’s been on a cycle of every three-to-four years, and I anticipate it will be on that same three-to-four year cycle.” That was in response to an investor asking about an earlier projection of “every two years”, something the franchise hasn’t done since Quantum Of Solace. Damn, pay better attention to y'all's folio, investor. When asked if MGM was in discussions with any other studios to replace Sony as distribution partners, the exec declined to give specifics, adding “every studio is interested” in partnering with them on the Bond franchise, and that the three-to-four year cycle means there's "no rush" to replace Sony as a distribution partner. 

What does this mean? I don’t know! I’ve seen some blogs take this “three-to-four year” news as some kind of revelation, and as confirmation that Daniel Craig is done with the role. But I don’t get the connection; Craig’s been on exactly that cycle since 2008, and based on his “I’d rather slash my wrists than make another one right now” comments during the Spectre press tour, it sounds like any break shorter than the one he’d taken between Skyfall and Spectre would be the deal-breaker. As we all know, fandom would rather be dazzled by the promise of something new, by the anticipation of the “next” than to just love the one they’re with. I just hope that particularly annoying, dopamine-chasing habit doesn’t bleed into actual industry decisions.