James Bond 25 Being Courted By Five Studios Including Annapurna

By Jacob Hall/April 20, 2017 11:30 am EST

However, the most interesting contender is Annapurna Pictures, Megan Ellison’s company that was founded in 2011 and has distributed movies like The Master, Zero Dark Thirty, Her, Foxcatcher, and Spring Breakers. They dipped their toe into more mainstream waters with last year’s Sausage Party and they apparently liked how it felt. They’re a fair bit more adventurous than your typical studio, throwing their weight behind unique filmmakers and eclectic projects. Do they have the muscle to co-finance and distribute the next James Bond movie, which will undoubtedly cost north of $200 million to produce? Who knows. But it’s the kind of move that will let them dig in their heels and play with the big guys.

One of the most interesting notes in the article is that the James Bond franchise isn’t even especially lucrative for the distributor. Here’s an example:

So, why does everyone want in on this? It’s simple, really: because being the company that releases James Bond movies is cool. Not to mention that fact that the Bond movies are huge enough to essentially guarantee some profit, even if it’s not much.

Under its previous agreement, Sony paid 50 percent of the production costs for Spectre — which totaled some $250 million after accounting for government incentives — but only received 25 percent of certain profits, once costs were recouped. Sony also shouldered tens of millions of dollars in marketing and had to give MGM a piece of the profit from non-Bond films Sony had in its own pipeline, including 22 Jump Street.

In any case, the studio that wins the day will be the studio that most impresses producers Barbara Broccoli (the daughter of original Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli) and Michael G. Wilson (her half brother), who have been steering the 007 franchise since the ’90s. What’s currently unknown is whether or not Daniel Craig will return one more time, although the article notes that he has an upcoming gap in his schedule that would be just right for the 25th James Bond adventure.