It was reported last week that MGM may have finally given up on Bond 23, and it has now apparently been cancelled. MGM have been in turmoil for some time now, with financial problems slowing projects, and no sign of a buyer. This is sad news for many people for several reasons.
On the surface, it is clearly a shame for the Bond franchise. James Bond is one of very few enduring British characters in recent cinematic history. Bond movies have been made fairly consistently over the last 50 years, and have always allowed a place for British film in the North American film industry. Bond is not only the most iconic British movie character, he is one of the most recognisable action heroes in cinema.
The Bond movies have never really been considered high art, and are more popcorn action mixed with elaborate stories of conspiracy and espionage than they are compelling drama and complex characterisation. There had been an improvement in this recently, with Casino Royale considered by many as the best of the Bond films, taking a very serious and gritty Bourne-like view of the gentleman spy.
The news that an Academy Award winner, in the shape of Sam Mendes, was going to take control of the next installment gave hope that Bond would take another step up. The promise of exciting action being linked up with Mendes’ characteristic emotional storytelling style certainly increased my interest in the next film, despite the fact that i really have never been a fan of the series. How much of a blow it is to Mendes himself is unknown. I have no idea whether he had definite ideas of where he wanted to take the character, or if he thought it would just be an interesting project to take on. It is probably more of a blow to Daniel Craig. He had appeared in films before Casino Royale, but his appointment as Bond is what has really elevated his status, and the parts he has taken on inbetween have not had a great deal of impact. With the Bond gig now out, i wonder if he’ll struggle to get big roles in the coming months to replace it.
As i said though, i am not really a Bond fan, and to me the greater issue here is seeing just how far MGM has fallen. Founded in 1924, MGM were the dominant Hollywood studio until the beginning of the 1950’s. Beginning with their first version of Ben Hur in 1925, the studio was responsible for many movies that are still considered classics today. Northwest Passage, The Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind were all MGM releases.
The studio were famous for being one of the first to make use of Technicolour, in its different forms, and at its height was releasing up to 50 movies a year. It wasn’t until just after World War II that it started to go wrong. Demographics, sensibilities and popular genres were changing. MGM however continued to cling onto their past, producing elaborate, overly expensive musical productions, whilst rivals like Warner Bros were making more and more lower budget, dramatic films. This lead to the beginning of their financial problems. With debts beginning to mount up, production was forced to slow down, and no movies were released under the MGM brand between 1973 and 1980.
In 1981, as part of their attempt to turn around their fortunes, they began making movies again. As part of this plan, they purchased United Artists, and with it the Bond license. Over the next ten years or so, MGM was bought and sold many times, running into greater debts with each sale. With hits few and far between, they only managed to survive thanks to their extensive film library, combined of both MGM produced films, and properties acquired over the years. They produced less and less new pictures, however, and now the back catalogue isn’t proving enough to sustain them. Now, with only the Bond franchise, and a half share of the two Hobbit movies to their name, things are looking desperate.
With Bond all but cancelled, The Hobbit currently looks like their only possible in-house financial lifeline. It is fortuitous for the property that MGM are only hold a part stake, as it means production should still be able to go ahead as long as the other parties stay afloat…
MGM have gone from being the biggest player in Hollywood to a broken brand, in many ways a victim of their early success. By making their name with huge productions, they made a rod for their own back, and a reluctance to change led to the beginning of their financial woes over fifty years ago. Many movie studios come and go, but few with as rich a history as MGM. I personally hope they find a buyer to lead them out of their problems, and make a new beginning. It would be a desperate shame to lose such a big part of Hollywood history.
Bazmann- You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann
