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The Funny or Die website has A PARODY of the Nikki Finke-Deadline: Hollywood situation. In turn, the parody includes a parody of Skyfall, the most recent James Bond movie.
For the uninitiated, Finke founded the Deadline website, which tended to get lots of scoops (including some ABOUT SKYFALL and THE SCOOP that Bond 24 and Bond 25 would be written by John Logan). She had a falling out with Jay Penske, who bought the site from her. You can CLICK HERE for a Nov. 19 Los Angeles Times story with background.
Anyway, actress Jean Smart plays Finke in the Funny or Die video. As for the Skyfall element that’s part of the parody, we won’t spoil it. Click HERE to see the video.
The Oscars on Oct. 24 had the biggest 007 presence since 1982. So how did the two nights compare?
For 007 fans, this year’s Oscars were a mixed bag. Skyfall won two Oscars, breaking a 47-year Oscar drought. But a promised Bond tribute seemed rushed and some fans grumbled that Skyfall should have come away with more awards.
Skyfall came away with the Oscar for Best Song after three previous 007 tries (Live And Let Die, Nobody Does it Better from The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only) as well as best sound editing in a tie with Zero Dark Thirty. But neither director of photography Roger Deakins or composer Thomas Newman scored an award, continuing their personal Oscar losing streaks.
Anyway, the 1982 and 2013 Oscars shows had one thing in common: Each had a montage of James Bond clips. In ’82, it was presented just before Eon Productions co-founder Albert R. Broccoli received the Irving R. Thalberg Award, given to a producer for his or her body of work. That montage included dialogue, including different actors getting to say, “My name is Bond, James Bond.”
Thirty-one years later, there was another montage, a little snappier but clips still familiar to most 007 fans. The clips were accompanied by The James Bond Theme and an instrumental version of Live And Let Die.
The 1982 show had a big production, with Sheena Easton performing For Your Eyes Only (nominated for Best Song, but which lost) along with a Moonraker-themed dance number that included appearances by Richard Kiel as Jaws and Harold Sakata as Oddjob. In 2013, the clip montage led to Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger and drawing a standing ovation. And then….well, the 007 tribute was over. Adele performed Skyfall separately as one of the Best Song nominees.
In 1982, Roger Moore introduced Cubby Broccoli. In 2013, no Bonds appeared. Supposedly, that wasn’t the original plan, according to Nikki Finke, editor-in-chief of the Deadline entertainment news Web site. In a “LIVE SNARK” FROM THE OSCARS, she wrote:
The Academy and the show’s producers hoped to gather together all the living 007 actors. But Sean Connery refused to come because he hates the Broccoli family. Something about how he thinks they cheated him out of money he was owed. Then Pierce Brosnan refused to come because he hates the Broccoli family as well. Something about how he thinks they pulled him from the role too early. Roger Moore was dying to come because, well, he’s a sweetheart. And Daniel Craig would have come because he does what he’s told by the Broccoli family’s Eon Productions whose Bond #23 Skyfall just went through the box office global roof. So there you have it.
Finkke didn’t say how she came by this information. In mid-February, her site ran an interview with the producers of the Oscars show and that story said the six Bond film actors wouldn’t appear at the show and referred to “rampant media speculation” concerning such a joint appearance. Still, her Web site was the first to report that Sam Mendes was likely to direct Skyfall, so it can’t be disregarded completely.
In any case, the 1982 show had something not available to the producers of the Oscars show this year: Cubby Broccoli. He gave a particularly gracious speech when accepting his Thalberg award. He acknowledged both of his former partners, Irving Allen and Harry Saltzman, despite substantial differences of opinion he had with them in the past.
In the end, that speech sets the 1982 show apart from a 007 perspective despite the record two 007 wins for Skyfall. We’ve embedded it before, but here it is once more:
If you know where to look on Twitter, you can pick up on 007 related events. Some examples: Skyfall’s score being recorded: The music for the 23rd James Bond movie has been recorded the past few weeks according to TWEETS BY TONY LEWIS, A MUSIC EDITOR. He hasn’t disclosed much. An Aug. 15 Tweet said, “It may feel like oct 26 is miles away but we’re on the home straight now 😉 it’s going to be massive. #skyfall” Oct. 26 is the U.K. release date. An Aug. 5 Tweet says, “Another great day at @AbbeyRoad – we’re so close now you can almost touch it. #SKYFALL”
In another Aug. 5 Tweet, Lewis responded to a question about what Thomas Newman’s score for the movie was like. Lewis’s response: “sadly not – NDA’s forbid me – all I can say is that it’s ace.” Presumably NDA is short for non-disclosure agreement.
@NikkiFinke Another day, another Deadline story ripped without credit. You know where you heard it first…. Craig for Bond 24 & 25
Finke is founder and editor-in-chief of Deadline and co-author of its story of the Craig signing. Back in January 2010, Deadline was the first TO REPORT that Eon was negotiating to bring Sam Mendes aboard what would become Skyfall. Shortly after that, Mendes’ publicist confirmed the talks to a U.K. newspaper while the director denied it to The Wall Street Journal.
While Sony, Fox, and Warner Bros would love to grab the Eon Productions franchise, I’m told reliably that as long as MGM’s debt restructuring is preceded by a pre-packaged bankruptcy, Bond isn’t going anywhere.
For the uninitiated, in a pre-packaged bankruptcy, a company first obtains agreements from its lenders on restructuring its debt. The company then files for bankruptcy, but the having the agreements in hand minimizes the time in bankruptcy court.
In an update to the post, Fleming added this:
“You are absolutely right, there is no new news. Development will resume once MGM is viable again, as Danjaq can’t go anywhere without them. So all bets are off. No idea when this will get resolved,” a source integral to the Bond franchise told Deadline London editor Tim Adler today.
To read Fleming’s entire post (which also says Daniel Craig and would-be director Sam Mendes aren’t going anywhere, click the above link or JUST CLICK HERE.
Here’s also a shoutout to the Commander Bond.net Web site, which had its own summary YOU CAN READ BY CLICKING HERE. That summary, by Matt Weston, also includes a link to a related Hollywood Reporter link.
UPDATE: MGM, meanwhile, is seeking yet another extension of a moratorium on its debt payments, according to a July 7 story by Ronald Grover on Bloomberg.com:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., the film studio up for sale after falling behind on $3.7 billion in debt, will ask lenders to extend a moratorium on interest payments, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
The Los Angeles-based company will e-mail ballots to more than 100 creditors this week, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because discussions are private. The current forbearance expires on July 14.
The paper cited a “glum insider” it didn’t identify and quoted a statement from Eon Productions that didn’t confirm but didn’t really deny it, either. Media reports about James Bond movies have a mixed record. Nearly 30 years ago, for example, there were reports that Eon was considering James Brolin to play 007 in Octopussy. In 1994, Brolin’s screen tests were shown at a 007 fan convention in Los Angeles, showing they were right even though Roger Moore ended up coming back for Octopussy.
It would be nice if we knew something, anything about the “glum insider.” Does he/she have direct knowledge? In theory, it could be anyone from Eon boss people Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, down to a grip. Still, even if you discount the Daily Mirror report, MGM hasn’t been making much progress on the financial front. Bottom line: the news isn’t good, the question is exactly how bad it is.
ORIGINAL ODDS: 4-1 FIRST REVISED ODDS (after Eon said Bond 23 was being delayed indefinitely): 10-1 REVISED ODDS (discounting Daily Mirror but noting lack of MGM progress): 15-1 REVISED ODDS (accepting Daily Mirror): 100-1
We’ve been speptical since this latest version first surfaced earlier in the year, in part because have been lots of U.N.C.L.E. scripts that have gone nowhere. Things are still murky but something appears to be happening.
ORIGINAL ODDS:100-1 REVISED ODDS:25-1
New (serious) Matt Helm movie: Not much news on a movie that’d be a more faithful version of Donald Hamilton’s “counter assassin.”
It has been an interesting 24 or so hours since Eon Productions put out a press release that it was indefinitely delaying Bond 23 because of uncertainty about the fate of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
Here was part of the take of Nikki Finke and Mike Fleming on the Deadline Hollywood Web site:
So what’s really going on? Well, given that MGM is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and at the mercy of its creditors, EON may have the right to take Bond elsewhere. So it stands to reason that the producers wouldn’t want to do anything now that further complicates ownership of Bond #23 or binds them to MGM during this precarious period during which the once storied studio may now be in its standalone swan song.
(snip)
(Eon boss folks Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broocoli) have been watching the current MGM auction proceed with a mixture of dismay and curiosity. Dismay because Bond’s longtime home is a mess. And curiosity because Broccoli and Wilson would love to move Bond to a fully functioning studio. Like Sony, where Amy Pascal is dying to keep the famous franchise. Or Fox, which handles Bond’s DVD distribution. “It feels like EON is sending a message to MGM,” one source tells us. “If they try to continue as a stand-alone studio, don’t expect to be making any Bond films.”
Broccoli and Wilson very deliberately have made certain they don’t do anything on Bond #23 which ties the movie further to MGM.
That’s an interesting premise. However, it overlooks how MGM controls half the Bond franchise because it picked up the half that Harry Saltzman sold the former United Artists studio in the 1970s when he was in financial trouble. Essentially, Eon makes the creative decisions (while MGM sometimes exert influence) while MGM supplies the financing. Now, it’s possible IF MGM files for bankruptcy, that Eon’s links to MGM may be broken in bankruptcy court. But that hasn’t happened yet.
Meanwhile over at The Wrap Web site, another prominent entertainment site, the focus was on would-be Bond 23 director Sam Mendes in a short article by Jeff Sneider:
It looks like “American Beauty” director Sam Mendes will have to wait to make his action debut, as “Bond 23” has been delayed indefinitely.
(snip)
James Bond is the longest running franchise in movie history, so don’t expect this delay to derail a 23rd installment in the series, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Mendes chooses to turn his attention toward other projects in the meantime.
Meanwhile, on the Commander Bond Web site, there’s a fan consenus IN THIS VERY LONG THREAD that a very cagey Wilson and Broccoli are putting the pressure on MGM and that Bond 23 will be out sooner than the skeptics think.
In short, there’s a lot of buzz. Unfortunately, it’s not about an actual James Bond adventure but rather the intrigue behind the intrigue.
To read the entire Dateline Hollywood post, CLICK HERE.
MGM received bids and, no surprise, wants to study them before proceeding. Here’s an exerpt from a Bloomberg.com story:
The company will start a second phase of its strategic review after evaluating the proposals, Los Angeles-based MGM said today in an e-mailed statement.
If Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood blog is correct, Bond 23’s behind the scenes story may have even more intrigue than whatever film eventually comes out.
Here’s the setup from Deadline Hollywood’s report on Bond 23. It references Eon Productions, which makes the Bond films, and MGM, the studio that finances and releases them.
(O)nce EON hires a director on their Bond films, it triggers a first payment from MGM. Well, given that MGM is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and EON may have the right to take Bond elsewhere, it stands to reason that the producers wouldn’t want to do anything right away that furthers ownership of Bond #23.
So, Finke reports that people familar with the situation are saying that Eon currently is talking to director Sam Mendes abot signing on as a consultant (which wouldn’t trigger the payment) at this time, with the notion of making him Bond 23’s director later.
“The producers are working on a deal to bring Sam on as consultant with an eye to direct,” one of my insiders says. “Once they put him on as the director, something happens to the contract in terms of ownership. But let me emphasize there’s not any deal done.”
Finke also says that current 007 Daniel Craig “is ‘insisting’ on Mendes’ hiring because the actor was stung by criticism of the last Bond film. (And Sam directed Daniel in Road To Perdition.)”
UPDATE: The story has been confirmed, at least in part, by Mendes’ publicist in a story at The Guardian’s Web site. An excerpt:
Sara Keene, Mendes’s British publicist, confirmed today that the director, who won an Academy Award for his first movie, American Beauty, in 1999, had met representatives of the Bond franchise to discuss the 23rd film in the series, but said nothing had been finalised.
“I can confirm that he has had a meeting, but Sam always has lots of projects on the table that he might direct next,” Keene said. “Sam’s method is to have a number of projects as possible next films and at some point to confirm which film he’s going to do.”
The Spy Command 