The Next Bond Movie Is In a Holding Pattern

The brakes have been applied to Bond 23. The Bond site MI6 cites sources saying that it's not the usual delay, and is rooted in the questions surrounding the future of MGM, the studio that really only has 007 and the Tolkien books at its disposal, plus some 80s remakes. "Well, our timeline's a little up in the air what with the situation at MGM, so we have to be flexible," producer Michael Wilson said. "We just don't know enough about the situation to comment, but we know it's uncertain." I think we kind of had to expect this, especially since the next 007 mission was on pace for November 2011, anyway. So even with the uncertainty on the studio side, this wasn't going to go into production for several months, anyway. However, Wilson went on to say that the script is still in a state of flux, too. "Well... we've hired the writers and we've been working with them but it's just too early to say anything," he said. "You know, often at this stage, I find myself saying, 'Oh, we're gonna do this and that', then six months from now you'll say, 'That isn't in the film at all - you told me it was...' I think we're at the stage where a lot of ideas are floating around that sound very good, but whether they make the final cut, who knows?" The writers, by the way, now include Peter Morgan, from The Queen and Frost/Nixon. The one thing truly lacking in Quantum of Solace was character development (and a worthwhile villain, but they're probably connected), and that's what Morgan does really, really well. So if Purvis and Wade can get back in their Casino Royale mode, then we could be on the right path. I still haven't heard another plot outline aside from Bond is pursuing drug traffickers in Afghanistan, which I like on its own, but I don't see yet how it could fit in the whole Quantum storyline, which we learned at the end of the last movie is kind of the thread holding this slate of films together.