Bond 23 put on hold

Despite MGM’s financial woes Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli have continued to developed the 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise, hiring Peter Morgan to write the script and attaching Sam Mendes to direct.

We heard from Daniel Craig and Judi Dench that filming would begin towards the end of this year; however that doesn’t look like it will be happening now as EON Productions today announced that they have suspended development on Bond 23 “indefinitely” until the future of MGM is certain.

From ComingSoon:

“Due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of the studio, we have suspended development on ‘Bond 23′ indefinitely. We do not know when development will resume and do not have a date for the release of ‘Bond 23,’” stated Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli jointly.

This is obviously disappointing, and means we will have to wait even longer before we see 007 back on the big screen. One can only hope this won’t happen to The Hobbit too. I don’t think there will be enough martinis in Middle Earth to calm down Tolkien fans if The Hobbit is put on hold.