LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sony has given up its fight to make a James Bond film, agreeing to a multimillion-dollar settlement with longtime 007 studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
"Essentially, we have given up the universal rights to make a James Bond picture," Sony attorney David Steuber said Monday.The settlement resolved lawsuits by James Bond films distributor MGM and producer Danjaq LLC against Sony Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. and John Calley, a former MGM executive who became president of Sony Pictures.
"The end of this case reaffirms that James Bond resides at one address -- that of MGM and Danjaq, his constant home of the last 37 years," MGM chairman Frank Mancuso said.
MGM has a 19th Bond installment, starring Pierce Brosnan, in the works for a November release. Danjaq produced 18 of the 20 Bond movies released since "Dr. No" in 1962.
The settlement involves a $5 million payment by Sony Pictures to MGM and effectively makes permanent a preliminary injunction issued by a court in July 1998, prohibiting the Sony parties from making Bond movies in the United States, MGM said.