New “James Bond” Movie Shelved Amid MGM Financial Crisis

MGM Studios — which produced some of Hollywood’s most timeless classics in its mid-20th century heyday — is on its last leg financial and the new James Bond movie has been shelved amid the studio’s crippling cash crisis.

Has Agent 007 taken his final ride?

“We do not know when development will resume and cannot comment further at this stage,” production company EON confirmed in a statement last week.

American Beauty director Sam Mendes was lined up to direct the 23rd flick in the franchise, which started with Dr. No in 1962. The $200 million blockbuster, starring Daniel Craig as the cinema’s smoothest secret agent, had been previously postponed amid “financial problems” at the debt-ridden movie studio, which co-funded the film. However, producers have now pulled the plug on the new Bond completely, citing MGM’s cashflow troubles as the chief reason for halting production.

“Members of the production crew have been told the Bond film has been canned,” a studio fly spied to England’s Daily Mail last week. “There is a lot of bad feeling as a lot of time, money and hard work has already gone into this.”

MGM is drowning under a reported $3.64 billion debt as it desperately searches for a buyer. A string of box office flops have meant big losses for the once grand studio.

It is uncertain when — or if — James Bond will make a comeback on the big screen. However, Mark Adams, of Screen International, has offered some encouragement to fans: “The last two films did phenomenally well and the series is a very reliable performer. EON will want to keep it in the family, it’s an iconic brand. This doesn’t mean the end of the Bond films. The question is how long it will take to make another one.”