No Time to Die teaser poster
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer doesn’t comment very often about the James Bond film series. Occasionally, 007’s home studio discusses the franchise when reporting its quarterly financial results.
Well, No Time to Die came up this week when MGM talked to investors about third-quarter financial results. Naturally, the blog has a few questions.
What did MGM say about No Time to Die’s marketing?
Not that much. The studio said No Time to Die’s marketing will ramp up shortly after Jan. 1.
However, MGM didn’t say much more than that. At this point, No Time to Die doesn’t have a first trailer out. A rough cut, or preliminary version, was completed by August, according to the James Bond & Friends podcast. But a final version hasn’t been released yet.
To be sure, there’s a lot more to marketing than trailers. But it’s clear Bond fans aren’t seeing much marketing yet for No Time to Die.
How important will No Time to Die be for the company?
Very important. MGM is draining cash this year as it invests in new movie and TV projects as well as investing in its Epix premium TV channel.
An MGM executive referred to the company’s 2020’s feature film plans as a
“James Bond-led revitalized film slate.”
Is there something else we should be aware of?
I have listened to MGM investor calls for seven years now. Rarely do investor ask about Bond films specifically. The calls are intended to discuss MGM financial results generally.
However, this time out, MGM executives got two Bond questions.
One concerned whether MGM had consulted with Danjaq (the parent company of Eon Productions, which actually produces Bond films) whether 007 films could come out more often.
Also, MGM was asked about whether the studio has sought a new Bond actor now that Daniel Craig has said No Time to Die will be it for him.
Listening to a recording of the call, MGM execs were not prepared for either inquiry.
After the first question, there were three seconds of dead air. After the second, there were six seconds of silence.
Doesn’t sound like a lot? On most investor/Wall Street analyst calls, executives pipe up with all sorts of jargon and blather. They don’t stay silent for seconds.
What does that mean?
It means the Bond franchise has major questions to be resolved after No Time to Die arrives at theaters in April 2020.
It also means that MGM isn’t ready to discuss those issues now. MGM and Danjaq (the parent company of Eon) have joint custody of the Bond film franchise.
The entertainment industry is changing rapidly. On the MGM call, new streaming TV shows from Star Wars and Marvel Studios were referenced in questions.
Put another way, the lack of a No Time to Die trailer may not be that important in the long run. We’ll see.
Filed under: James Bond Films | Tagged: Bond 25, Daniel Craig, Danjaq LLC, Eon Productions, Marvel Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, No Time to Die, Star Wars |
The Spy Command 
“ However, MGM didn’t say much more than that. At this point, No Time to Die doesn’t have a first trailer out. A rough cut was completed months ago.”
Sorry, how do come to that conclusion?
Have you seen that trailer? Have the people who claim that the trailer was ready ‘months ago’ seen it? Have you seen any kind of verifiable proof that the trailer was ready ‘months ago’? Did the people who claim this offer such proof?
If the answer to the above questions is ‘no’ I’d seriously doubt one can state as a fact what is, at best, rumour and at worst bullshit.