Studios vie for distribution of next James Bond film

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.

Sources say Sony was open-handed, spending $200 million on the latest film and nearly as much to market it worldwide.

"Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton are great people to deal with," says a former studio insider. "The people on Melrose are a little more challenging."

That's an allusion, of course, to Paramount and its penny-pinching ways. But sources with knowledge of the situation say the Broccoli family has been "very impressed" with Paramount's ability to sell big movies worldwide. (The studio grossed $836 million with "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and $622 million with "Iron Man 2.")

And certainly Paramount has had success in opening a diverse array of films, from "Jackass 3D" to the current hit "True Grit."

Paramount executives Brad Grey and Moore are close to Birnbaum and Barber--especially since they teamed on the latest iteration of "Star Trek."

Birnbaum and Barber stepped forward help Paramount finance the film, which was widely regarded as a risky proposition at the time but went on to gross $385 million worldwide.

The next Bond film--tentatively called "Bond 23," to be directed by Sam Mendes and starring Craig--will likely cost less than $150 million.

It is not clear whether MGM will finance all or part of the film, though one source with ties to Paramount believes MGM would like to finance the film and cover marketing costs. Obviously that could be one of many points of negotiation.

It's also worth noting that Paramount and MGM are both part of the joint venture that operates the Epix pay television channel.