Variety reported that MGM was looking to sell their newest James Bond film No Time To Die to a streaming service. However, it was looking for a deal worth approximately USD 600 million—a price tag that big streaming services like Netflix and Apple won’t likely be interested in.
MGM reportedly lost between USD 30 million (about RM125 million) to USD50 million (about RM208 million) due to the delays. Whereas other movie studios like Paramount and Sony were able to earn tens of millions by selling movies like “Greyhound“, “Coming 2 America” and “Without Remorse” to streaming services.
When a spokesperson for MGM was asked to comment, they said that the new Bond film wasn’t for sale. They also mentioned that they “do not comment on rumours”.
“The film’s release has been postponed until April 2021 in order to preserve the theatrical experience for moviegoers,” said the MGM spokesperson.
However, multiple insiders at rival studios and companies believe that MGM was at least open to the possibility of selling their prized franchise. But their USD 600 million (RM2.4 billion) price tag that was considered too much for big streaming services.
Apple is reportedly spending around USD 6 billion (RM 25 billion) a year on Apple TV+ original content. Acquiring just one film for a tenth of their annual content budget may not be particularly wise.
Netflix reportedly is spending USD 17.3 billion on 2020’s content. However, they allocate over 80 percent of its content spending to original content production—so they might not be too interested in spending all that much for one movie, either.
No Time To Die costs more than USD 250 million (about RM1 billion) to produce, and currently has a release date of 2 April 2021 after it being pushed back twice this year due to the pandemic. It has lined up several promotional partnerships to help defray those costs—including Land Rover, Omega watches and Heineken.
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