Studios vie for distribution of next James Bond film

LOS ANGELES  - Now that MGM has announced a start date for the next James Bond film and set its release for November 2012, the remaining question is which studio will distribute the latest installment of the most venerated, if not most lucrative, of franchises?

At this point, the lead player would appear to be Paramount Pictures, which--thanks to a close relationship between the studio's top brass and new MGM co-chairmen Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum--has informally gotten a first crack at the negotiation.

The other contender is Sony Pictures, which successfully released the last two Bond films and is said to be on good terms with the Broccoli family, owner of the Bond rights.

Despite that, a knowledgeable source says the Broccolis have approved Paramount as a prospective distributor and that preliminary talks have begun.

Whether Paramount seals the deal--which is likely to be sorted out in the next couple of weeks--will depend on what is sure to be a hard-ball negotiation. Given that Barber and Paramount's Rob Moore enjoy tough bargaining, this exchange should be worthy of study at business schools.

Obviously Bond is a jewel in the MGM crown and Birnbaum and Barber will seek to wring more out of this opportunity than just the distribution of one film.

Sources speculate that MGM will seek a potentially precedent-shattering distribution fee for Bond and other future films, which could cause Paramount to balk.

The most favorable distribution fees run about 8%; that is the rate, for example, that Paramount collects for releasing films from DreamWorks Animation.

One veteran executive believes MGM will seek a fee as low as 6% for Bond and shoot for the existing gold standard for other future films. Paramount will insist on holding the line at 8% for the Bond film and, given all the variables in the negotiation, it will make sure it can at least claim to have succeeded if the parties strike a deal.

MGM also is said to be interested in opportunities to partner on some films that Paramount has in development.

A source with knowledge of Paramount's thinking says the studio's position is that the Bond franchise is very attractive but not "life-changing."

Obviously that is the posture that any studio would take heading into a negotiation but in this case it is also true. The last two Bond films starring Daniel Craig as Agent 007 (2006's "Casino Royale" and 2008's "Quantum of Solace")each have grossed about $600 million worldwide, but given the cost and profit participations to the Broccoli family and others, the movies do not throw off profit on the order of a "Transformers" or "Iron Man."

On the other hand, Marvel now belongs to Disney so Paramount could use a new, guaranteed tentpole.

Sony, which has been through a tough holiday season with the failure of the expensive James L. Brooks film, "How Do You Know," also could use another tentpole--though it's unclear whether the studio would be interested in distributing other MGM product.

The Broccoli family is assumed by many observers to be well disposed toward Sony and co-chairman Amy Pascal, who oversaw the successful reboot of the Bond franchise with Craig.