MGM: Bond 25 to be released ‘over the next few years’

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer expects Bond 25 to come out “over the next few years,” CEO Gary Barber said last week, without providing specifics.

On a conference call with investors and analysts, CEO Gary Barber listed “premium franchise titles” that “we expect to release over the next few years.” The list included Bond 25 as well as reboots of Death Wish and Tomb Raider.

A recording of the call is on the investor relations portion of MGM’s website.

MGM on Nov. 10 reported a third-quarter profit of $12 million, down from $124 million a year earlier. The main reason for the plunge was the studio’s unsuccessful Ben Hur remake released in August.

MGM, since emerging from bankruptcy in 2010, primarily makes television shows. It produces a small film slate, including the 007 series. But MGM isn’t big enough to release movies on its own. So it enters distribution deals with other studios. Ben-Hur, for example, was released by Paramount.

Sony Studios, through its Columbia Pictures brand, has released the last four Bond films. Sony’s most recent two-picture contract, where it co-financed Bond movies with MGM, expired with 2015’s SPECTRE. No new 007 distribution deal has been announced.

Thanks to reader Matthew Miner for the heads up.