Daniel Craig benefits from tech company valuations

Daniel Craig is the original Knives Out

Daniel Craig is about to get a huge post-Bond payday, in part because “tech companies” play by different rules than other businesses.

It has been reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Netflix will pay almost $470 million for two sequels to the film Knives Out. Now, Netflix resembles a studio (it makes original movies and TV shows). But it’s classified as a tech company because its productions primarily are shown on streaming, though its movies sometimes get theatrical releases.

If you’re a tech company, investors treat you differently. Your stock price often goes crazy and investors will throw money at you.

Netflix isn’t alone. Amazon is essentially a retailer but because it’s viewed as a tech company, it’s much more valuable. Ditto for Tesla, which makes electric vehicles but enjoys the tech company label, much to the consternation of established automakers.

Enter Daniel Craig, the five-time film James Bond. He starred in the original Knives Out, a 2019 mystery, as a project he squeezed in amid No Time to Die delays. Reportedly, he and Knives Out writer-director Rian Johnson may pocket $100 million each as part of the new Netflix deal.

Craig made plenty of money playing James Bond. His No Time to Die payday was a reported $25 million.

But that was under the old rules — release a movie to theaters, charge admission, then shift to home video and on-demand TV.

Netflix plays under new rules, which emphasize streaming. Others, including Walt Disney Co. and AT&T (owner of Warner Bros.) want in on that action.

The original Knives Out had a global box office of $311.4 million on a budget of $45 million. That’s nice but hardly the billion-dollar-plus blockbuster in theatrical release, which had been the industry standard. However, the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the traditional movie theater business.

Variety, in a follow-up story, described how things are changing:

Then again, the world of entertainment has changed so significantly, and the measure of success for streamers is not dependent on box office dollars but on signing up new subscribers.

“It’s a whole new equation,” as one of my sources put it.

No doubt it’s an equation to Craig’s liking.

New Craig film suggests possible Bond 25 delay

Eon co-boss Barbara Broccoli and 007 star Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig is set to star in a movie that begins filming in November, Deadline: Hollywood reported. That raises the possibility of at least some delay for Bond 25, which had been scheduled to start filming on Dec. 3.

Craig is to star in Knives Out, a murder mystery, according to the entertainment news website. The director will be Rian Johnson, who helmed Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi.

The Deadline: Hollywood story doesn’t specifically say Bond 25 will be pushed back. But unless Knives Out can complete filming in less than a month, it would suggest Craig would be unavailable for the announced Dec. 3 date for start of Bond 25 principal photography.

A couple of caveats: Sean Connery was busy when Goldfinger began production in 1964. Mission: Impossible-Fallout still made its July release date despite a delay of months after Tom Cruise broke his ankle. So even if Knives Out keeps Craig tied up it doesn’t necessarily mean — at least not yet — that Bond 25 can’t meet its announced fall 2019 release date.

However, Bond 25 doesn’t have a director after Danny Boyle’s departure last month. And the condition of the script/scripts is/are unknown with scribe John Hodge following Boyle out the Bond door.