Tabloid reports Bond 23 crew notified of 'canned' production

The new James Bond film, due for release by 2012, has been canned - reports tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror.

Production crew were told in April the £132million blockbuster, starring Daniel Craig, had been postponed amid “financial problems” at debt-ridden movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which co-funded the film.

But now it has confirmed the movie has been axed – and it could be years before the secret agent with a licence to kill is back on the big screen.

A glum insider said: “Members of the production crew have been told the Bond film has been canned.

“There is a lot of bad feeling as a lot of time, money and hard work has already gone into this.”

But production company EON confirmed in a statement yesterday: “We do not know when development will resume and cannot comment further at this stage.”

MGM is drowning under a reported £2.4billion of debt as it desperately searches for a buyer. A string of box office flops have meant big losses. Spyglass Entertainment is the front-runner to take over but Summit Entertainment is also understood to be in talks with creditors.

Mark Adams of trade mag Screen International offered some cheer to fans, saying: “The last two films did phenomenally well and the series is a very reliable performer. EON will want to keep it in the family, it’s an iconic brand. This doesn’t mean the end of the Bond films. The question is how long it will take to make another one.”

Thanks to `Largo's Shark` for the alert.

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