There is bad news for Bond fans and the action genre as a whole with the announcement that Bond 23 has been put on hold "indefinitely," raising some big fears.
Everything seem to be going well with Peter Morgan hired to write the script, Sam Mendes attached to direct and Rachel Weisz rumoured to star as the villain, but all that can be disregarded.
Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli released a joint statement saying,
“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‘”.
This is tragic because Bond had been going through a resurgence with the excellent Casino Royale and the pretty good Quantum of Solace (it is however a bloody masterpiece compare to Die Another Day), both of which have given Bond fans a gritty realistic action series they needed and deserved.
James Bond is known for bounding back and reinventing himself. Bond did suffer a six-year hiatus after Licence to Kill (an underrated film), but that did force a change in the acting personnel.
The Bond series has been a proven money maker for nearly 50 years and the figures for the previous two films shows that’s it is not slowing down. It would be madness to let Bond die when there is so much potential in the re-booted series and having one of the best actor available playing the spy.