Should this happen, MGM’s assets might be sold to cover the debts, including the rights to the James Bond franchise, the potential RoboCop remake could never see the light of day. This would inevitably delay Bond 23, and who knows what else.

MGM’s current plan is to convince creditors to waiver interest payments until January 2010, with that money instead going to fund new movies. There’s a lot up in the air right now, but we’ll keep you posted.

The letter openly praises Casino Royale’s approach, but is quick to point out the flaws in Quantum of Solace.

Dear Peter,

While we at Time Out are thrilled that you, one of our country’s most talented and inquiring screenwriters, have accepted the challenge of penning the next James Bond movie, there are a few salient points we feel you might like to keep in mind while writing what will inevitably become one of 2011’s most important and, we hope, enjoyable movies. We trust you accept our advice in the friendly spirit with which it’s intended…

Please give the characters room to breathe
Perhaps the greatest stride writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and erstwhile colleague Paul Haggis made with ‘Casino Royale’ was giving Bond and his companions a real sense of life, depth and emotional conflict. We’re used to Bond the wisecracking automaton, but with an actor like Daniel Craig in the role this approach is a terrible waste. ‘Quantum of Solace’ reduced Bond to little more than grunts and sneers – a smart thug who faces off against a loquacious but rather pathetic villain. You’ve already proved your worth as a master of verbal sparring in your previous scripts, so we’re sure you’ll have the murderous banter down pat. The challenge will be to make us care about Bond again.

Please respect your audience
There’s no doubt that the best of Bond is revealed when there’s a strong storyline packed with twists, switchbacks and double crosses: just think of Sean Bean’s deception in ‘Goldeneye’, or Vesper’s betrayal in ‘Casino’. As long as your action sequences are gripping and your characters convincingly motivated, there’s no crime in keeping the viewer guessing.

Please don’t waste your Bond girls
Another of the great pleasures offered by ‘Casino Royale’ was the chance to see Bond confronted by female characters who could hold their own: not just Eva Green’s scheming Vesper, but Judi Dench’s fractious, commanding M. Dench was the best thing in ‘Quantum’, but she was let down by Olga Kurylenko’s fiery but underused Camille. It’s a lesson the makers of Bond have been long in learning: these women can be more than just eye-candy. A strong female lead doesn’t just centre the film, she allows writers and audiences a chance to get to the core of Bond himself.

Please don’t remake the Bourne series
Both ‘Casino’ and ‘Quantum’ were clearly inspired by the downbeat realism of the Bourne trilogy, but while the former balanced gritty action sequences with a wry streak of self-deprecating humour, the writers and director of ‘Quantum’ seemed content with an endless parade of repetitive shakycam punch-ups in grimy locales. So, while action is clearly the lifeblood of the series, remember that Bond always benefits from a moment of levity amid the mayhem.

Please show us something we haven’t seen before
It’s hard to think of anywhere Bond hasn’t been (Antarctica? Everest? Leamington Spa?), but one of ‘Quantum’ director Marc Forster’s better accomplishments was picking some stunning international locations, from the seedy streets of Panama and the barren Atacama Desert in Chile to the grandiose opera house at Lake Constance in Austria. While the old Bonds were increasingly confined to traipsing between MI6 and Moscow battling the same faceless, jabbering Russkies, the global nature of the new films’ mysterious conspiracy means that Bond can now head just about anywhere, and beat up just about anyone.

Finally, we await the Bond producers’ choice of director with bated breath. Some interesting names have been rumoured, though we understand Danny Boyle has officially denied all knowledge and Christopher Nolan is busy with all that Batman business. But the Bond films have never been about the big-name directors; in fact, with names like Ian Fleming, Roald Dahl and Paul Haggis, you could say it’s one of the few major film series where the choice of writer actually matters more than the choice of director. Which is where you come in, Mr Morgan.

Good luck!

Yours in anticipation,

Tom

Multiple Oscar winner Peter Morgan is co-scripting the Bond movie — he and Sheen have worked together on numerous occasions, including “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon”. This long standing writer-actor relationship gives some significant weight to the rumor; and we already know Morgan has the Midas touch when writing for Sheen — this could be good, very good.

Blofeld portrayals

“We have started work on the new film, which I can’t say anything about. Daniel Craig is very keen to get going.”

Wilson also suggested that contenders for the next Bond theme tune could be Duffy or Amy Winehouse. I don’t think we can really take anything from that though:

‘I would love to get Duffy to sing the next tune,’ he said. ‘I think she is wonderful. Amy Winehouse would be good too.’

‘[Dame Judi] is great. I’m sure she will be back when we get rolling again next year.’

When in 2010 we don’t know, not really helping us guess the next release date. Meanwhile Michael G Wilson commented at the Bradford International Film Festival that no further, significant work on Bond 23 has yet taken place:

The only news Wilson broke about the next Bond film is that there is no news at all. He said there had been no significant work done on the next entry.

“They offered me the next one, but at this point the pressure is so intense — it’s a year of not having a life. And I don’t know if I want to do that again. It’s literally not having a life, and I mean that, it’s not exaggerated. I feel like life is short, you have to find a balance.”

Who should direct the next Bond movie?

CS: What more do you want to do with Bond? What other parts of him would you like to explore?
Craig: Well, I genuinely think we’ve got a blank page now. We’ve finished this story off. “Quantum of Solace” was exactly the right thing to do. We started something with “Casino Royale” and we wrapped it all up with “Quantum of Solace.” We’re ready to begin again and we can do what we want.

CS: So you think that the next one will be a throwback to another Bond era?
Craig: Submarines and outer space!

CS: Are you all still looking at unused Ian Fleming story elements, since that worked so well in “Casino Royale?“
Craig: Yeah, but there’s nothing left. It’s all done unless someone finds a dirty manuscript under the couch at [Fleming’s Jamaican estate] GoldenEye, we’re stuffed.

Daniel Craig has also been speaking to Collider about Bond 23:

“We’ve finished this story as far as I’m concerned. We’ve got a great set of bad guys. There is an organization that we can use whenever we want to. The relationship between Bond and M is secure and Felix is secure. Let’s try and find where Moneypenny came from and where Q comes from. Let’s do all that and have some fun with it.”

“We don’t know when we’re going to do the next Bond. Nobody’s thinking about it at the moment. We’re giving it a rest for the moment. If I can squeeze something in next year I will…but I haven’t figured out what that’ll be yet. But nothing in the cold.”

* There has been a suggestion that Olga Kurylenko may return in this movie or the next Bond movie after.

* Producer Michael G. Wilson has stated that preliminary work will start on this movie in January 2009.

* Ian Fleming’s short story “OO7 in New York” is rumored to going to be the basis for this film. It was first published in the The New York Herald Tribune in 1963 and then in the US edition only of Fleming’s ‘Thrilling Cities”. It was first published in the UK in November 1999 in The Sunday Times magazine supplement as a tie-in with the film release of the Bond movie The World Is Not Enough (1999). It’s working title was “Reflections in a Carey Cadillac” and it’s original title was “Agent 007 in New York” when published in the NY Herald Tribune. The story features a Bond Girl called Solange, a name which was used for a character in Casino Royale (2006). For the first time in 2002, the short-story was added to the “Octopussy and The Living Daylights” compendium which includes these two short stories plus “The Property of a Lady”. This was the first time that the short story was published alongside other Bond short stories. “OO7 in New York” is the shortest and also arguably the least well-known of all the Ian Fleming James Bond short-stories. The story is famous for representing two story elements: (1) it includes James Bond’s only literary shopping expedition and (2) it includes his recipe for scrambled eggs.

* It is likely that the criminal organization QUANTUM will feature in this film after being introduced but anonymously in Casino Royale (2006) and also appearing but revealed in Quantum of Solace (2008). The producers have stated that it is their intention for QUANTUM to feature as a regular foe of James Bond.

* Quantum of Solace (2008) director Marc Forster has mentioned that he isn’t planning on signing-on to direct this movie.

* There have been apparently conflicting reports relating to whether this movie will be released in 2010 or 2011, the studio favoring the former with producer Michael G. Wilson mentioning the latter.

* This will be the 23rd James Bond movie in the EON Productions official series and the 26th James Bond film overall.

* Daniel Craig is contracted to do three pictures with an option for a fourth and so this will likely be his third time playing James Bond. It is possibly the case that this movie could be Craig’s final playing James Bond. Reportedly, an October 20, 2008 interview appearing in Hollywood.com states “Craig could stay on for a fourth movie as well, but it’s not likely” with Craig quoted as saying: “I can’t see doing it beyond another movie”.

* If Judi Dench returns for this movie, it will be her 7th outing as M. It has been touted that this might be Dench’s last time playing M in the series.

* Whether this film is released in 2010 or 2011, it should be noted that 2012 is the 50th Anniversary of the EON Productions James Bond franchise. There will no doubt be some celebrations of this birthday milestone as there was with the series 40th Birthday when Die Another Day (2002) was released forty years after Dr. No (1962).

* This movie is not expected to be a direct follow-on from Quantum of Solace (2008) and Casino Royale (2006) which the former was a direct sequel to the latter. Producer Barbara Broccoli has said that the series “will go on to other different stories from now on.” However, there still is likely to be the appearance of the QUANTUM organization, but with different villains. Moreover, Broccoli has also hinted at the possibility of a trilogy, which means a connection with Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008), saying that “I think in some way, he will go after the [Quantum] organization. So in that sense, it may become a trilogy, but we haven’t really structured it that way.”

* It has been touted that this film will be shot in New York. In the published Ian Fleming stories, James Bond goes to New York in “Live And Let Die”, “Diamonds Are Forever”, “Goldfinger” and the short story “007 in New York”. In the movies, he went there previously in Live and Let Die (1973).

* Reportedly, this is expected to be the first James Bond movie released after the Sony-MGM studio partnership. This is allegedly due to a legal agreement which was made when Sony formed a consortium to buy the MGM studio four years ago in 2004. Quantum of Solace (2008) and its precursor Casino Royale (2006) have both been MGM / Columbia Pictures co-productions and both studio logos are seen at the start of each film. For Bond 23 (2010), MGM is expected to return to being the Bond franchise’s sole exclusive studio. However, it has been touted that Sony may be staying on.

* With the use Quantum of Solace (2008), an original Ian Fleming James Bond story title for the Bond movie made prior to this, there now remains only four unused original Fleming titles that could possibly be used as a title for this film. These are “The Property of a Lady”, “The Hildebrand Rarity”, “Risico” and “007 in New York” (aka “Agent 007 in New York”).

* There has been a strong suggestion that this film may be filmed in New York. Interestingly, the 007 Magazine has reported a time when in the early days of trying to film what would become Never Say Never Again (1983), the following 1975 Bond movie New York location scout occured: “In 1975 McClory [i.e. Kevin McClory], accompanied by Sean Connery, traveled to New York in order to scout locations for their new 007 project then entitled James Bond of the Secret Service. The script, co-written by McClory, Sean Connery and Len Deighton (thriller writer and creator of the Harry Palmer character immortalised on screen by Michael Caine) included scenes inside and outside the Statue of Liberty, where the villainous SPECTRE has a secret base from where they launch robotic sharks to keep away any prying intruders.”

* The characters of Miss Moneypenny and Q, who have not appeared in the last two Bond movies Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008), are said to be returning in this movie. Samantha Bond, the last actress to play Moneypenny, has said that she won’t be returning to the role. As such, a new actress would likely be cast when/if her character returns to the series. Producer Michael G. Wilson has allegedly hinted that Moneypenny will return but Q may/will not.

* Variety columnist Liz Smith wrote this in her column on Wednesday 10th September 2008. The piece is about this movie being filmed in New York using its Primola Restaurant as one of it’s locations: “WHO WAS that blond stunner who froze forks mid-air at the posh Primola eatery in N.Y.? Oh yes indeed, it was Daniel Craig, 007 himself. The studly Daniel was accompanied by his producer Barbara Broccoli. (She is the daughter of ‘Albert “Cubby’ Broccoli’, who co-produced all the James Bond films until his death in 1996. Barbara took over and now has a “license to film.”) Daniel and Barbara talked about the next Bond epic, part of which will be filmed — for the very first time! — in New York [sic, Live and Let Die (1973) was partially filmed in New York]. Primola itself will have a little cameo. Maybe Daniel just wanted to see if the restaurant could handle those shoulders of his.”

* Writers are scheduled to begin the film script by the end of January 2009.