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Nick Cuse, a writer and producer who received a consultant credit on No Time to Die, has criticized the film’s director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, for stealing credit on projects, the MI6 James Bond website reported.
Cuse made a post on Instagram that included the following:
Cary Fukunaga is the worst human being I have ever met in my life. He didn’t groom me to fuck me but he did use a lot of the same tactics to get me to write his scripts for him. Which he would then put his name on. One time, after spending three weeks on a script, he made me open up the cover page and type his name under “Written By”. I had to literally type the stolen credit with my own fingers.
The post doesn’t specify the project or projects involved. Cuse and Fukunaga worked on the television series Maniac. In addition to directing No Time to Die, Fukunaga was one of four credited screenwriters.
The Cuse criticism occurred after three actresses — Rachelle Vinberg and twins Hannah and Cailin Loesch — accused Fukunaga of predatory behavior. The accusations have been written about at sites such as The Wrap and Jezebel.
In the fall of 2002, James Bond returned to his original U.S. television home, Walt Disney Co.’s ABC television network.
It ended up being the end of a 30-year, on-and-off relationship between the fictional spy and ABC.
007’s television debut occurred on Sept. 17, 1972, when Goldfinger was shown by ABC. The network was 007’s television home through the 15th Eon-produced film, The Living Daylights.
After that, things began to change. Licence to Kill appeared on Fox. Time Warner’s TBS scooped up the TV rights to the older films in the early 1990s. Pay-cable networks diminished the aura of 007 movies appearing on broadcast television. GoldenEye debuted on NBC, while CBS snared Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough.
So, it was a bit of a surprise when ABC brought 007 back “home” in the fall of 2002. It was an opportunity for MGM and Eon Productions to promote the upcoming Die Another Day.
However, the media world had changed. ABC canceled the Bond Picture Show after nine Saturday nights in the fall of 2002. And truth be told, things weren’t the same after ABC voiceover king Ernie Anderson passed away in 1997.
Since then, movies — once a staple for broadcast networks — fell out of favor for the most part.
What’s more, the Bond Picture Show included a major trivia moment. Disney/ABC, in its 2002 showing of Diamonds Are Forever, implemented digital underwear for Plenty O’Toole in Diamonds Are Forever.
In the original scene, Plenty O’Toole (Lana Wood) had flesh-colored panties. Disney/ABC gave her a black bra and panties before the character was thrown out of a window, landing in a swimming pool. CLICK HERE to see a 2020 story at the MI6 James Bond website that describes what happened.
Below, here’s a promo that ABC aired for the fifth Bond movie, You Only Live Twice.
A music track of a collaboration between Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen submitted for the 1989 film LIcence to Kill is genuine, the MI6 James Bond website said.
The lengthy article was written by Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury, authors of the book Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films.
“(W)e can confirm that the recording is indeed genuine,” Field and Chowdhury wrote. “We first heard it in September 2020, the culmination of a fascinating journey unearthing the Holy Grail of lost Bond treasures which begun as COVID shut the world down.”
The track has circulated on the internet and “has left fans split over its authenticity,” the duo wrote.
Kamen composed the score for Licence to Kill but was not involved with the film’s title song. performed by Gladys Knight.
For more about the track’s history (including the participation of guitarist Vic Flick), CLICK HERE. To hear it, CLICK HERE for a YouTube video by Bond Blog that incorporates it. But be warned, you don’t know when YouTube might yank it.
No Time to Die has been out for a few weeks. Once a movie is released, entertainment-news outlets chew over the numbers. Fans then react to stories.
Naturally, the blog has questions.
So how well is No Time to Die doing?
As of Oct. 17, it had an estimated box office take of $348.3 million internationally and $99.5 million in the U.S. for a grand total of $447.8 million.
That has been depicted as strong internationally, not so much in the U.S.
Why “not so much” in the U.S.?
Because as recently as Oct. 4, two weeks ago, there were some estimates No Time to Die’s U.S. opening weekend could be $100 million, according to CNBC.
The movie’s final U.S. opening weekend number was $55,225,007, according to Box Office Mojo. That’s nothing to sneeze at but obviously not $100 million.
And the 25th James Bond film’s U.S. opening weekend was below recent movies such as Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($90 million) and Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($75.4 million).
I see estimates it may take a global box office of more than $900 million for the movie to break even. How is that?
The studios split that box office with theaters. Precise figures vary, but a rule of thumb is studios get about 50 percent. In China, that’s only 25 percent. But that’s a huge market, so the studios want to be there.
No Time to Die also was very expensive. A U.K. regulatory filing last year indicated the production cost was nearing $300 million. There were also marketing costs, including a pricey Super Bowl ad, in February 2020. Pandemic-related delays may have boosted the marketing expenses.
The MI6 James Bond website published an analysis on Aug. 2. It said No Time to Die “needs to clear $928m at the box office to avoid losing money.” Other outlets have published similar figures. Variety, in an Oct. 11 story, said the film will need “to gross at least $800 million globally to get out of the red (probably closer to $900 million).”
To be clear, the accountants at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Bond’s home studio, and Universal, handing international distribution, know far more than fans and other outsiders.
Since the pandemic, what movie has had the highest box office?
It’s a tense time to be a James Bond fan. The countdown to the current release date of No Time to Die is drawing down. But we’ve been here before. Naturally, the blog has questions.
Will No Time to Die actually be released this time? Or, like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, are Bond fans in for disappointment again?
Beats me. COVID-19 is flaring up again. The Summer Olympics were forced to have no crowds at events. In the U.S., there’s a surge in states such as Florida and Texas. The main reason are variants of the COVID-19 virus that have developed.
As recently as a month or so ago, I was pretty optimistic. I’ve stopped giving odds.
What makes sense for No Time to Die?
Financially, there are no good choices.
Back on July 31, this blog wrote about how billion-dollar movies, once a thing, have been affected in a major way by changes in the industry and by the continuing effects of COVID-19.
On Aug. 2, the MI6 James Bond website went further. That site crunched numbers. Recent major movie releases, such as F9 and Marvel’s Black Widow, have seen major falloffs in their second weekend of release.
According to MI6, if that trend holds up for a September/October release for No Time to Die, it will be hard for the 25th James Bond film to recoup the movie’s massive investment.
What are you trying to say?
It’s possible — possible, mind you — that No Time to Die will be the worst performing Bond film in terms of profit versus investment ($300 million or more). A 2021 release may be disappointing. But another delay means another $1 million a month in interest costs until the movie comes out.
Neither is a great choice.
Any advice?
As a fan, you have no control over any of this. If the movie makes its current release date, make your plans to see it safely. If it gets delayed? Well, we’ve adjusted before and we can do it again.
The title song for No Time to Die will get even more exposure before the 25th James Bond film goes into theaters.
Performer Billie Eilish scored a Grammy nomination for the movie’s title song in the category of Best Song Written for Visual Media. The award show is at the end of January.
Eilish’s involvement with the song has been a buzz among Bond fans for almost a year. The MI6 James Bond website said Jan. 12 of this year that Eilish would become the youngest performer of a Bond song.
Eon Productions confirmed the news on Jan. 14. The song itself bowed on Feb. 13. This was when No Time to Die was scheduled to be released in April.
Then, No Time to Die was postponed to November. The song’s music video came out on Oct. 1.
On Oct. 2, the film’s release date was pushed back to April 2021. Nevertheless, Eilish performed the song on Oct. 5 on The Tonight Show in the U.S. The movie’s star, Daniel Craig, appeared on the same telecast.
The April-November-April delays stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic. But, with the Emmys telecast, the song No Time to Die will be one of the most exposed Bond title songs in the history of the film series.
What once seemed unthinkable — a new James Bond movie debuting on a streaming service — may be a possibity. Or is it? Naturally, the blog has questions.
How did this come up anyway?
On Thursday, Drew McWeeny, who writes about film, posted a tweet that raised the possibility. He has a reputation for knowing a lot of people in the industry.
I can't get my head around the idea that we may well see James Bond debut on Apple TV+ or Netflix. The numbers I've been hearing the last few days are I N S A N E…
McWeeny also publishes a newsletter where he elaborated. Here is an excerpt:
In the last ten days or so, at least six people have reached out to talk to me about what they’re hearing, and it sounds like those two streamers are currently the most actively engaged in conversations with MGM and, I presume, EON and Universal to pick up No Time To Die. I have no idea if other conversations have occurred or not, but I can’t imagine they’re the only two interested parties.
McWeeny also wrote that one figure he’s heard is for more than $600 million. But he also wrote he didn’t know if that was just one film or more.
Separately, the MI6 James Bond website and Bloomberg ran stories on Friday concerning No Time to Die going to streaming first.
MI6 said it “understands that those offers started at $200m are now heading towards $250m – just for the North America streaming rights.”
Bloomberg said Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has held talks with Apple Inc. and Netflix. The news service cited “people familiar with the situation.” MGM told Bloomberg the film is not for sale. The Bloomberg story doesn’t provide a specific price.
UPDATE (Oct. 24): Variety weighed in with its own story. The entertainment outlet said MGM was looking for a deal in the $600 million range, “a price tag that was deemed too rich” for some of the streaming services. Which ones weren’t specified.
UPDATE II (Oct 24): Dealine: Hollywood (a sister site to Variety) posts a story emphasizing MGM’s denial.
A troll on Facebook (joined in July, only three followers) emphasized to me how Deadline’s Mike Fleming has a special, close relationship to Danjaq/Eon. That’s another way of saying Fleming is an extension of the Danjaq PR machine. Whatever. Personally, I prefer a knowledgeable, independent voice on these things.
What happens now?
The Bond situation is very complicated. MGM and Danjaq LLC jointly control the James Bond film rights. No Time to Die is to be distributed by United Artists Releasing (co-owned by MGM and Annapurna Pictures) in the U.S. and Universal internationally.
That’s a number of parties that may have to be dealt with for any streaming deal.
What’s driving this?
No Time to Die was to have come out in April but was delayed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). So it was rescheduled for November. But COVID-19 hasn’t gone away and cases are rising again in the U.S. and Europe. So now, the 25th James Bond film is supposed to be out in April 2021.
What’s more, MGM is a weak studio in an industry already facing changes before COVID-19. The company is owned by hedge funds who likely are anxious to sell the studio.
A streaming deal would deliver cash now while MGM can still be prepare to sell itself later.
But what about that MGM denial to Bloomberg?
That denial may have a short shelf life. Put another way, the denial is true today. The question is how long will it be true?
James Bond defeated the likes of Dr. No, Rosa Klebb, Auric Goldfinger, Blofeld, et. al. But even 007 had to retreat in the face of a potential pandemic with the delay of No Time to Die pushed back to November.
Naturally, the blog has questions.
What happened? The coronavirus (technical name COVID-19). It surfaced in China at the end of 2019. It spread to Japan, South Korea, Italy, and other nations. There have now been deaths in the U.S. from the disease.
Why is that such a big deal? COVID-19, at this point, is very contagious. It also is more potent than normal seasonal flu.
Seasonal flu has a death rate of between 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent. The new coronavirus had been estimated at 2 percent. The World Health Organization then raised it to 3.4 percent. But that’s a moving target, subject to revision as more data becomes available. The 1918 “Spanish flu” had a death rate of about 2.5 percent. It killed between 20 million and 50 million globally.
Is there a broader context? Yes. Theaters in China have been closed for weeks. Coronavirus outbreaks in Europe have had results, including the cancellation of this year’s Geneva Motor Show. Some countries are cracking down on events with mass gatherings in an effort to cut back on spread of the disease. Many major companies are eliminating travel for employees for now.
How did No Time to Die get involved? The 25th James Bond film’s Beijing premiere was canceled a while back. So was a publicity tour in China, South Korea and Japan.
Earlier this week, the MI6 James Bond website and The James Bond Dossier published an open letter urging Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Universal (the international distributor) to delay the movie’s March 31 premiere. The letter noted that major markets for Bond films already had been affected by the coronavirus, with more impact to come.
Chances are Eon, MGM and Universal were already thinking about it. But the global reaction to the open letter had to be a factor.
What happens next? Presumably the publicity build-up goes on hold and we’ll come back to it later.
For what it’s worth, Bond films since 1995’s GoldenEye have been released in either November or December. No Time to Die is back in that part of the calendar. But the delay does cement the 2015-2020 gap between SPECTRE and No Time to Die as the second-longest in the history of the Eon series.
The release of No Time to Die was delayed until November because of the coronavirus, it was announced today.
“MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020,” according to a tweet on the official Eon 007 account on Twitter.
In a follow-up tweet, it was specified the U.K. release was now Nov. 12, 2020 while the U.S. release will be on Nov. 25.
The move comes amid the spread of the disease, with governments moving to clamp down on places where large numbers of people gather.
Movie theaters in China have been closed for weeks. There have been outbreaks in Europe that resulted in the closing of the Louvre museum in Paris and the cancelation of this year’s Geneva Motor Show.
The 25th James Bond film had been set to premiere on March 31 in London, with an April 2 release. The U.S. release had been set for April 10.
Earlier this week, the MI6 James Bond website and The James Bond Dossier had published an open letter to Eon and the studios urging them to delay the film’s release. The open letter was then picked up in a number of outlets including The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, IndieWire and others.
Here’s the first tweet:
MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020. pic.twitter.com/a9h1RP5OKd
Here’s a quick roundup of No Time to Die developments:
Music team adds a recruit: Musician Johnny Marr will work with Hans Zimmer on the No Time to Die score, NME reported, citing comments from Marr.
“Part of the legacy of the Bond films is iconic music, so I’m very happy to be bringing my guitar to No Time to Die,” Marr told NME.
Marr has worked with Zimmer on previous films, including Inception, where Marr was a guitarist and Amazing Spider-Man 2, where Marr contributed to the score along with Zimmer.
A three-hour Bond? The MI6 James Bond website examined recent developments that may (or may not) point to the 25th James Bond film having a running time of almost three hours.
@ImAFilmEditor tweeted back on Dec. 4 that No Time to Die may end up being the longest Bond film but there weren’t any details beyond that. He reminded people of that in a Jan. 16 tweet.
This week, @antovolk did some more detective work. He provided caveats that the movie is still in post production and that a final running time isn’t locked down.
Bond films during the Daniel Craig era have tended toward longer running times, except for 2008’s Quantum of Solace, which had a 106-minute running time. SPECTRE’s running time was 148 minutes, the longest so far for the film series.
The Spy Command 