[Roy4253]

Does anyone know if any more of the James Bond movies are soon to be released on Blu-ray? I read (somewhere on these forums) that MGM was in trouble and that the Blu-rays had to be discounted heavily () to sell.

Any insider info out there?

[nwgarratt]

They stopped releasing them. They also didn't have any problems selling the Blu ray although, it doesn't help some shops selling the DVD versions for as low as £3 (Morrisons).

[Karlin]

MGM's been in trouble for at least 30 years. In fact there's really not one single MGM out there as there are several entities who own and manage the names, licensing and copyrights. It's very fractured.

Plenty new Blurays for North America and mainland Europe but I've not seen any sign for the UK. They'll be along just the now don't worry.

Cash in the bank for whomever releases them.

[nwgarratt]

There is only two films not released in the UK - Licence to Kill and Man with the Golden Gun.

I really wanted Goldeneye.

[Geoff_D]

I think us enthusiasts smelt a rat when the steelbooks dried up for the US Bond releases. The public haven't taken to Bond on Blu (pre-Craig, anyways) so MGM are doing the smart thing and holding the rest of them back.

[Captain_Danger]

I am only after The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill.

[Ammus]

Originally Posted by Roy4253

Does anyone know if any more of the James Bond movies are soon to be released on Blu-ray? I read (somewhere on these forums) that MGM was in trouble and that the Blu-rays had to be discounted heavily () to sell.

Any insider info out there?

MGM is in trouble and will be sold (see below). I guess that means in the foreseeable future no new Bond Blu-rays

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is interested in buying “James Bond” producer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., depending on the cost.

“It’s all about price,” Lions Gate Vice Chairman Michael Burns said today at an investment conference in New York sponsored by Dow Jones & Co. and Nielsen Co. “I think we’ll know sooner rather than later.”

MGM hired investment bank Moelis & Co. in May to help restructure more than $3.7 billion in debt. Lenders agreed to a forbearance that allows the film company to skip payments through Dec. 15. MGM has a 4,100-title film library and plans to co-produce “The Hobbit,” based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book, with Time Warner Inc.

Bond, “The Hobbit” and the library are “worth a lot of money,” Burns said. The library is valuable if there are new releases to help increase the value, he said.

The value of Los Angeles-based MGM depends on the cash flow, Burns said. Time Warner is also interested in MGM and may be willing to outbid Lions Gate, he said. Time Warner spokesman Edward Adler declined to comment.

[kevny]

Originally Posted by Captain_Danger

I am only after The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill.

I have License to kill and the PQ is fantastic.

[kevny]

License to kill is Region locked to Region A.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Geoff_D

I think us enthusiasts smelt a rat when the steelbooks dried up for the US Bond releases. The public haven't taken to Bond on Blu (pre-Craig, anyways) so MGM are doing the smart thing and holding the rest of them back.

Think that because of so many DVD issues,, box sets ultimate etc.

As above I realy want The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill. The forme as its my favorite Bond film and the latter as my version was the cut on and poorish trancfer.

[John Henry]

The Living Daylights and A View To A Kill for me, already got LTK.

[mattrixdesign2]

I thought Sony (Columbia) has a big investment in the Bonds?

The problem with the releases I think the market had been saturated, Special Editions, Ultimate Edtions (which I thought were superb quality), tin sets... then they go for BluRay, but its not as if it got a massive pontetial at the moment. Maybe this Xmas will see BluRay go mass market, then these releases can follow... but how many people will upgrade to BluRay if they have the DVD already. I have only bought a select few.

[DICKIEDUVET]

I only want The Man With The Golden Gun, Everywhere else got it but the UK.

[simonblue]

Goldeneye now

[mikegambit]

I doubt the MGM sale will affect the Bond releases at all.
Sony own the Bond films now and after the court case a few years ago even Never Say Never and Casino Royale .

Fox have never had any involvement with Bond so unsure why Sony licenced them to distribute the films rather than do it themselves.

If the MGM sale was going to affect Bond then other MGM titles would be too.

MGM is not going anywhere - the library and studio were sold to Ted Turner decades ago and he retained the library which formed the basis for TCM- whoever buys it will still use the name and its not been with its original owners for decades

The ownership of MGM and UA films is complicated with different companies owning different films depending on when they were made , and this is further complicated by ownership changing from one country to another aswell as for tv broadcasts and home video releases, same goes for MGM - hence the vanishing Poltergeist dvd of several years ago and the dual dvd releases on R1 of Logan's Run and Westworld

This is exactly what happened to Bond on dvd on R1. Seven titles were released then the collection was abandoned until a new cinema release came out and we all had to start again

[Geoff_D]

Originally Posted by mikegambit

I doubt the MGM sale will affect the Bond releases at all.
Sony own the Bond films now and after the court case a few years ago even Never Say Never and Casino Royale .

You sure, ace? I know that Sony's theatrical distribution deal ended with Quantum Of Solace, which is partly why MGM are bricking it because they've got no money to make a new Bond film, which would then re-ignite interest in the older ones (see the bit about "increasing the value [of the library]" in Ammus' post).

Fox are releasing the previous Bonds on DVD/BD because they handle the home video distribution for current MGM properties. If Sony still owned the pre-Craig Bonds, wouldn't they still be distributing them themselves? You'll recall that the distribution actually changed from Sony to Fox not long after the Ultimate Editions came out, and there's no mention of Sony anywhere on the current in-print editions.

Whoever owns them is in a bit of a pickle regardless, as the Bonds have been done to death on DVD. The release of the 'Ultimate' versions was not particularly well thought out, as they were hyped up as being so incredibly awesome it's no wonder that people were reluctant about getting the over-priced BDs. C'est la vie.

[ARNOLD AKIEN]

I'm still waiting patiently for the Blu Ray release of ' You Only Live Twice ' which I have fond memories of watching in the cinema way back then when the world was old but I was young.


Since it would seem that none of us will be able to buy themselves this wonderfully Sexist and Silly movie in Blu Ray for Christmas it falls to me to point you all in the direction of alternative Presents that your nearest and Dearest can be gently nudged toward. Nearest and Dearest being Me in my own case since I'm not likely to be bought anything at all from the following site ... unless your collective appreciation of my generosity is so great that you have a collection for my Present?

I already have a Rolex wrist watch that I bought myself for my 40th Birthday but this would be perfectly satisfactory as a Christmas Present ....


" Q: It's activated by nerve impulses from the wrist muscles.
James Bond: Like this?
[The dart pierces a painting on M's wall]
M: Oh, thank you, 007!
Q: Be careful, will you? Ten darts: five blue-tipped, five red-tipped - cyanide coating, causing death in thirty seconds.
James Bond: Very novel, Q. Must get them in the stores for Christmas."

- from Moonraker, 1979 "




Bond Lifestyle - clothes, gadgets, guns, cars and lifestyle in the James Bond movies and novels



Yours in Hope-full Expectation,


Arnold.

[mikegambit]

Originally Posted by Geoff_D

You sure, ace? I know that Sony's theatrical distribution deal ended with Quantum Of Solace, which is partly why MGM are bricking it because they've got no money to make a new Bond film, which would then re-ignite interest in the older ones (see the bit about "increasing the value [of the library]" in Ammus' post).

Fox are releasing the previous Bonds on DVD/BD because they handle the home video distribution for current MGM properties. If Sony still owned the pre-Craig Bonds, wouldn't they still be distributing them themselves? You'll recall that the distribution actually changed from Sony to Fox not long after the Ultimate Editions came out, and there's no mention of Sony anywhere on the current in-print editions.

Whoever owns them is in a bit of a pickle regardless, as the Bonds have been done to death on DVD. The release of the 'Ultimate' versions was not particularly well thought out, as they were hyped up as being so incredibly awesome it's no wonder that people were reluctant about getting the over-priced BDs. C'est la vie.

The court case of several years ago was instigated by Sony who were trying to prevent Kevin McClory from starting his own Bond franchise , despite the fact he only owned the rights to one story.
The outcome was that ownership of Never say Never Again and the 1967 Casino Royale which were both previously in the hands of others also reverted to Sony.

Now the films were UA productions ,later ones also had the MGM lion , recent ones had the Columbia intro (Columbia owned by Sony) so what the current state is I'm not sure.

Its such a mish mash involving MGM,Sony,Fox etc its possible that rights could be changing hands.

Apparently the break between Licence To Kill and Goldeneye was down to the problems at MGM - however I still would say that Bluray releases would not be affected as any contracts for the films would surely have been done long ago unless of course MGM's problems negate the contracts until things get back to normal.

I would have thought that Sony would not have instigated a court case if all they had was distribution rights as the threat of another Bond franchise would have been unlikely to have surfaced before their contract was up.

Maybe the home video rights are as much of a problem as they are for other MGM/UA films.
Fox released NSNA on Region A but its not out here .

I'll have to dig out my Battle For Bond book again and give it a thorough going over as it explains the complete legal battle over the movies over the years

I still reckon the break in Bluray releases is for the same reason as they did with the dvd's - rethinking the marketing because the films gave poor sales as they were released too early in the life of Bluray.

That reason was what George Lucas gave for the delay on Star Wars on dvd some merit to it I suppose

[Geoff_D]

Heh. Lucas released the prequels fairly early on in DVD's life and they sold like gangbusters, so I'll never understand him waiting until 2004 to release the OT. A year or two later and he'd have missed the boat completely.

[max222]

I have no doubt the remainder will come out eventually - however the case designs will probably change as they all get re-released. This is both a good and bad thing - good because the cover designs are IMHO horriblle - but bad because I'll have a mismatching set then. I've said it before the original poster art would be far preferable to airbrushed soft focused and not even lifelike paintings of the films' stars.