When Will Bond 26 Be Released?

DavidJones

Of course, this will just be speculation, but when do you think Bond 26 will be released?

Assuming Craig won't be in it - I really can't imagine he will be - there will be a search for a new actor, a new distributor and maybe a new direction too.

The last search for a new Bond took almost a year and a half (February 2004 - May 2005, approx), while it seems to take about five years for Eon to make a film these days.

What do you guys reckon?

Barbel

2026, based on what's said above + the coincidence of the year + Eon's current pace.

ToTheRight

I agree with the above comments, but feel it will take even longer.

Each recent decade has dwindled in film quantity:

1980's- 5 films (6 counting NSNA)
1990's- 3 films
2000's -3 films
2010's- 2 films

My prediction:

2020's - 1 film
2030's - 0 films

The earliest I think we'll see B26,

2042 to coincide with the series' 80th anniversary.

JTM

Not sure if you're serious or not but do you really think after B25 they'll put this extremely profitable and popular series on hold for 22 years until making the next one? Our 7th Bond would've just started high school if that was the case.

ToTheRight

JTM wrote:

Not sure if you're serious or not but do you really think after B25 they'll put this extremely profitable and popular series on hold for 22 years until making the next one? Our 7th Bond would've just started high school if that was the case.

I'm sarcastically exaggerating, but I wish I were joking.

It wouldn't surprise me if it takes a decade to get B26 in cinemas. As profitable as Bond is, releasing a new film every 2-3 years is clearly no longer a priority for Barbara and Michael the way a set schedule was for Cubby.

Since LTK 30 years ago the series' productivity has been reduced to half. If reduction actually continued at that pace, the next 30 years would only result in 4 films.

Unless I'm mistaken the new distribution deal was only for NTTD. Afterwards it could take just as long to go through that process again. Then recasting and deciding upon an approach for the series' future. With all of that on their plate, my guess is we're going to be getting a very long hiatus after NTTD.

Who knows? Maybe MGM/ Universal will set a release date for the next Bond sooner than later?My hope is that MGM/Universal have at least an outline or plan for future films.

DavidJones

I don't think it will be twenty-plus years (although they are almost certainly saving 'James Bond' as a title to re-launch the series in the event of a long, legally-instigated hiatus), but it will probably be around 2027. I tend to view the series as over, otherwise I'd spend half my life impatiently anticipating the next film.

Barbara Broccoli doesn't appear to have the enthusiasm or perhaps even the work ethic required for an on-going series. Her father had more tenacity in his eighties than she had in her forties. I'm not saying it's all her fault - the situation with distribution rights is clearly a headache, though perhaps not as much of one as the lengthy negotiations seem to suggest - but it will be interesting to see how swift the turnover will be when Greg Wilson or someone inevitably succeeds her.

The series has had some considerable gaps (1989-95 etc) and still returned with astonishing success, and that could well be a serious problem in the long-term. It has shown Eon that Bond can maintain its status regardless of how much time elapses between films.

Barbel

DavidJones wrote:

it will be interesting to see how swift the turnover will be when Greg Wilson or someone inevitably succeeds her.

Well, I think it's clear that Gregg Wilson will succeed his father Michael G. Wilson. It's less clear who will succeed Barbara.

DavidJones

Barbel wrote:

DavidJones wrote:

it will be interesting to see how swift the turnover will be when Greg Wilson or someone inevitably succeeds her.

Well, I think it's clear that Gregg Wilson will succeed his father Michael G. Wilson. It's less clear who will succeed Barbara.

Yes, that will no doubt be the case.

Herr Stockmann

As much as I would have liked to see a movie coincide with the 60th anniversary of the series in 2022, given all that has been said previously, maybe 2027 would be the most likely release year, this time to celebrate the 65th anniversary. As long as a hiatus of seven years is, this break could be thought of as necessary to allow audiences to forget the Craig era and to play on a marketing argument as this anniversary could be.

SpectreOfDefeat

My rough guess is 2024/5 at the earliest (missing out on the 2022 anniversary, unfortunately). Taking into account the current situation, plus the usual gap between changing actors. My feeling is that there will be a significant debate behind-the-scenes over where to take the next Bond actor, what with the growing demands from some quarters for a black or female Bond. Do Eon radically recast the role to keep up with these rumours, or stick with someone more traditional? All of this will I think add up to a long delay, perhaps until 2024/5, or even 2026/7...

Number24

I agree on the dates (or rather years), I think 2024/25 is the best case scenario. But I don't think they will waste time debating if Bond should be a woman, at least as long as the Broccollis are in charge. I think they will consider non-white actors as James Bond.
Barbara Broccolli said something along the lines of: "James Bond is a British man and will remain a man and British. But "British" can mean a lot of things these days".