More details about SPECTRE emerge (SPOILERS)

SPECTRE teaser poster

UPDATE (Dec. 14): An excerpt from the Gawker post has been removed. Links to the Gawker post still remain.

Spoilers in this post.

The Gawker website HAS A POST with massive spoilers about SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond film produced by Eon Productions.

If you don’t want to know, stop reading now.

According to Gawker, an edgy website dealing with media, entertainment and other subjects, SPECTRE’s script “features a messy third act that executives are still trying to rework after months of tweaking.” This is based on material that’s available from massive hacking of materials belonging to Sony Pictures.

There is one caveat from Gawker: “But don’t trust these—for all we know, the executives and producers handling Spectre could still be tinkering with the final act.”

The Gawker post pretty much spells out the plot. To read the post, CLICK HERE.

Gawker suggests the filmmakers as late as November (on a movie where principal photography began Dec. 8) were trying to find a way to resolve the story.

The unprecedented Sony hacks — Sony Pictures will distribute SPECTRE and has distributed the Bond films since 2006’s Casino Royale — made all this possible. It remains to be seen how the final movie reflects all of this.

SONY WATCH: Is 007-friendly exec’s position imperiled?

Thanks to hackers, the past few weeks haven’t been good for Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Group and president of that entity’s film unit. James Bond fans have reason to follow the Pascal saga.

Pascal is a Sony executive who works closely with Eon Productions, which produces the James Bond film series. Sony has released the Bond films starting with 2006’s Casino Royale.

It’s a complicated relationship. The Bond franchise is owned by Eon and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Sony doesn’t have the control it has over its other movie properties. But Bond is a positive for Sony.

Many Sony documents were hacked, including emails where Pascal made racially insensitive remarks about U.S. President Barack Obama. There were other emails that referred to actress-director Angelina Jolie as a “spoiled brat,” which led to an extremely uncomfortable meeting between Pascal and Jolie.

Why should Bond fans care? The LOS ANGELES TIMES has raised the question whether all this bad publicity will force Pascal to take the fall and yield her job.

Here’s an excerpt (in the second quote “she” refers to Pascal):

“Typically, somebody senior’s head rolls when there is a hacking scandal, and the embarrassing email disclosures just help determine who that is going to be in this case,” said Laura Martin, senior media analyst for Needham & Co. “If she becomes the weak link because people believe she can’t actually work in the business, it’s just, OK, now we know who it is going to be. None of it is particularly fair, but if somebody’s head has to roll, they are looking for the path of least resistance.”

Publicly, at least, Pascal has been very supportive of Barbara Broccoli, the co-boss of Eon. In October 2005, when Daniel Craig was cast as Bond — a choice spearheaded by Broccoli — Pascal defended the choice.

Some fans, at the time, had criticized Craig (listed as 5-feet-10) as being too short to play Bond. Pascal told THE NEW YORK TIMES that Craig was “the same size as Sean Connery.” Connery is listed as 6-foot-2.

More recently, Pascal sided with Broccoli over the budget of SPECTRE, the 24th Eon 007 film that began filming this week.

Some of the hacked Sony emails detailed a conflict between MGM and Eon over the size of SPECTRE’s budget, according to THE CNN/MONEY WEBSITE. The emails indicate that SPECTRE’s budget may exceed $300 million, which would make it one of the most expensive movies ever made.

According to the CNN/Money story, Broccoli attempted to fight off cost-cutting suggestions from MGM and Pascal chimed in, siding with Broccoli.

The SPECTRE disclosures aren’t nearly as serious compared with how hackers have disclosed Social Security numbers and other information about Sony employees. Afterall, how would you like it if your personal data suddenly showed up on the Internet?

Meanwhile, from a 007 perspective, Pascal’s ultimate fate is worth following.

MI6 Confidential publishes two new issues

MI6 Confiential has come out with two new issues, one looking forward, the other backward at the world of James Bond.

ISSUE 27 examines The Man With the Golden Gun, which came out 40 years ago. There are features on Britt Ekland and Maud Adams, the two Bond woman of the ninth 007 film produced by Eon Productions, as well as director Guy Hamilton.

ISSUE 28 features SPECTRE, Eon’s 24th 007 entry that began principal photography this week. There are also other non-SPECTRE topics, including production designer Ken Adam’s work on Goldfinger.

The cost for each issue if 7 British pounds, $11 or 8.50 euros plus postage and handling. They can be purchased together to save on postage. More information is available at the MI6 CONFIDENTIAL WEBSITE.