Bond 25 to film in Canada in March, ex-crew member says

Bond 25 is scheduled to film in Canada in March, a former 007 film crew member told a German-language Swiss newspaper, Berner Zeitung.

The story primarily was a feature story about Stefan Zürcher, 73, who first was involved with the 007 film series with On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Deep in the story, however, there was this quote (translated via Google) from Zürcher when asked if might work on Bond 25:

“Recently, a director has finally been found, and shooting in Canada is scheduled for next March.”

He also added: “I do not want to spend too many inches of my remaining life in an ice desert. ”

Last month, Eon Productions announced Cary Joji Fukunaga would direct Bond 25 and that production would begin March 4.

There’s no way to tell how accurate this all is. Clearly, Zürcher’s comment was more of an aside. We’ll see how it goes.

THR: Annapurna’s ills may affect Bond 25 U.S. distribution

Annapurna logo

Financial problems at Annapurna Pictures may affect the U.S. distribution of Bond 25, The Hollywood Reporter said as part of a broader look at the company.

As things currently stand, a joint venture between Annapurna and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will release Bond 25 in the U.S. in February 2020 while Universal will distribute the movie in international markets.

Bond 25 is “the jewel in the crown” for the Annapurna-MGM joint venture, wrote THR’s Kim Masters. “If Annapurna falters, that film is likely to be released by Universal, which is handling overseas distribution. (MGM might also make a play to distribute domestically itself.)”

The joint venture was set up last year. It distributes movies for each partner. Movies that originate with Annapurna carry that brand. Movies generated by MGM, such as Bond 25, carry MGM’s Leo the Lion logo.

The THR story mostly is about cutbacks in film production at Annapurna, headed by Megan Ellison, daughter of tech magnate Larry Ellison.

“(T)he company’s operations now are being reviewed by an executive (with experience in business, but not in Hollywood) dispatched by Ellison’s father,” Masters wrote.

The story quotes a person with knowledge of the situation that it didn’t identify as saying this about Annapurna: “Larry respects money and wants it to be run in a more responsible way.”

Annapurna has exited some movies it commissioned, including a project about the late Fox News chief Roger Ailes.

“We are simply recalibrating so that our creative decisions are fully aligned with our business goals,” Annapurna said in a statement to THR.