By now Bond fans will be familiar with the hiatus on Bond 23, largely due to the MGM financial position. However, in this article by Steven Zeitchik, of the Los Angeles Times, it seems it might be more than money preventing Bond from moving forward… agreement on a shooting script might also threaten a swift recommencement of production.
The LA times published the following:
The secrecy valued by EON scares off most public comment on the film’s status, but sources familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity say that creative discussions among the writers and producers have also hampered the process.
Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes worked on the script last spring, the sources said, polishing the contributions of Frost/Nixon screenwriter Peter Morgan. Morgan, in turn, had rewritten parts of an earlier screenplay by Bond veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.
EON has typically developed a script to a point of their satisfaction before sending it to the studio that will finance and distribute the given film (a pairing of MGM and Sony Pictures for the past two films). That has yet to happen with the new Bond, which is to be financed and distributed by MGM.
The creative issues around the new Bond are notable because it means that even if MGM’s financial wrinkles were ironed out — in the form of a potential Time Warner acquisition of MGM, a corporate link-up with Spyglass or Summit Entertainment or, perhaps, the arrival of a white-knight outside financier for Bond — it would mean the movie would still not be ready to go. And by the time it was, it could run into actor scheduling issues, extending an already long layoff.
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The exact script issues on the new Bond remain shrouded in mystery, but the difficulties aren’t entirely surprising given the abundance of top creators and a franchise with ever-more complex mythology. Moreover, the new Bond film has always been framed as the third in the trilogy that began with “Casino Royale.” And with the need to wrap up many dangling plot lines — in this case, Bond’s quest for resolution after the death of romantic interest Vesper Lynd, among others — the third movie in a trilogy is typically hardest to lock down.