Five Studios Are Battling For The Distribution Rights To James Bond

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With Bond 25 slowly taking shape as franchise regular screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are penning the script. Meanwhile, EON (Everything Or Nothing) productions’ Barbara Broccoli and half-brother Michael G. Wilson try and convince Daniel Craig to return.

Now the right to distribute one of the biggest franchise are up for grab after Sony Pictures decade-long deal starting with 2006’s Casino Royale expired in 2015 after the release of Spectre.

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The New York Times are reporting FIVE Hollywood Studios are battling it out to get the distribution rights to the next 007 adventure.

So which studios entered the race? Obviously, Sony has made their pitch (more on that in a second) with Warner Bros, Universal, 20th Century Fox and little unknown company Annapurna, but they have films such as American Hustle and Her on their CV.

Two companies not interested are Disney – sort of understandable when you already have Marvel, Lucasfilm and Pixar to their name plus their own family films – and Paramount Pictures, which has just hired a new chairman after struggling for a while.

It’s not surprising so many of the top studios want to have the franchise since the last four Bond films made Sony a collected $3.5 billion at the worldwide box office and with global markets like China this number will grow.

However, the property isn’t actually that profitable. For example, under Sony’s previous deal they paid 50 percent of the production costs for Spectre – totalling $250 million – but only got back 25 percent of profits.

In 2014 Sony email leak, it was figured they’ll need around $38 million in profits if Spectre was a similar smash hit as 2012’s Skyfall. It didn’t, making $881 million, 20 percent less than Skyfall.

So why would any studio be interested in having James Bond and this one movie deal? Simple, bragging rights. 007 is a world brand with plenty of marketing generating billions in the US and worldwide.

Who has a chance to get their hands on this iconic character?

The leader of the pack should be Sony Pictures and they brought in their chief executive Kazuo Hirai to help give the pitch. They gave the presentation on a recreated the set from Dr No on its sound stage and emphasised their knowledge of Bond’s history and where they could take the franchise.

This was an hour of next level arse kissing. The other four companies have yet to have their meeting with Broccoli and Wilson so it could be interesting.

One company to keep an eye on is Annapurna. This could be a wildcard because clinching the Bond property would be massive for them, putting the studio on the map with all the global eyes on them.

They’re already making slow waves with small budget films like Her and American Hustle, whilst also doing more commercial films like Sausage Party and they recently hired a senior 20^th Century Fox executive as their president.

While Sony should be the leader of the pack, they’re not, as they’re losing interest and money. Hopefully, Spider-Man: Homecoming will change that.

I think the top dog in this fight is Universal. They were always the number one studio in my mind to replace Sony as they’re becoming bigger and bigger with franchises like the Monster films, Jurassic World, Fast and Furious, Despicable Me and Dreamworks Animation.

Furthermore, having James Bond as they top franchise, it’d do great things for them. I can see them working well with EoN and MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayor) and just letting Broccoli and Wilson continue their filmmaking process.

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As they both have final say over everything from every line of dialogue, casting and stunts to marketing.

Two studios where Broccoli could butt heads is with Fox and Warner Bros. I just don’t see Bond being at Fox anyway, but with WB they could do a lot.

As well as the normal film side, Warner Bros have their own gaming department and have a fantastic collaboration with Rocksteady. So they could make a great point of expanding the property while making some brilliant games.

Plus, if 007 joined the family they’d be in company with DC Comics, Harry Potter and LEGO, but it’d also kill any chance of a Man from UNCLE franchise.

I still think Universal is a great place for James Bond, but Warner Bros and Annapurna are closely behind.