The Sony-MGM Partnership Expiring

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/james-bond-distribution-rights-up-for-grabs-1201509566/

I'm curious how this will effect Bond 25. Sony doesn't have going much for franchises, so they'll probably do what they can to become the top bidder. With Warner Bros, it'll probably be a very swift deal, as they apparently have good relations after how well THE HOBBIT did at the box office.

Don't MGM distribute? I would think that they'd wanna return to when MGM had sole ownership (UA was a branch off MGM, wasn't it?) - especially knowing how well SF did, and what SP would probably do as well..

That said, if SP does terribly at the box office, I imagine they'll have to get another distributor.

Sony distributed them, while also helping out on production (those Sony products in the movie aren't there for nothin'). The original deal was that they would go solo after QOS, but that was bad timing which is why they partnered up with Sony again for two more films. As for UA, they haven't had a Bond film under their banner for so long (TND was the last), they're pretty much obsolete these days.

Yeah I know all that - I meant don't MGM distribute films, or are they solely a production company

It seems unnecessary to have a different distributor when SF and the Hobbit made so much money… Sony really came in to save the day initially.

I don't think MGM has distributed anything without assistance from other studios for awhile. Even on home video, Fox does the distributing for MGM movies. At least here in the states.

While Sony has been good, a large deal of that is because Amy Pascal was a very good friends with Barbara Broccoli and backed on all of EON's decisions, including the casting of Craig. She recently resigned and was replaced by Tom Rothman, who's known for not being easy to work with and made some awful decisions at Fox which resulted in him being forced out.

SONY should again distribute rights , if not so then Warner Bros. is personalty my second best choice. They also have upper hand because the CEO of MGM has good and close relation with the chief of Warner Bros.

I just don't see why they need a partnership.

Bond is too big for MGM to handle itself. Plus, it's becoming a thing in Hollywood where studios and production companies team up for these blockbuster films. Rarely does a studio these days actually put out a film themselves without having some assistance from another.