The latest James Bond movie, No Time to Die, was scheduled for release in April before being delayed until November. It was recently pushed back again until April 2021, but a new report reveals Apple was interested in acquiring the rights.
Apple considered up to $400 million for Bond, but MGM wanted double
The Hollywood Reporter says production company MGM approached several companies including Netflix and Apple about a potential deal to acquire the rights to the next James Bond installment. Apple was the only party ‘interested enough to throw out a number,’ according to multiple sources. The company ‘mulled’ an offer between $350 million to $400 million for a 12-month license to bring the title, which rather ironically includes Nokia product placement, to Apple TV+.
However, that number wasn’t even considered by the studio. MGM wanted $650 million to $700 million at minimum for the worldwide rights, with one source revealing that even $800 million was mentioned internally.
It is said that MGM based its numbers on several factors. Firstly, No Time to Die cost around $250 million to produce and a further $50 million has been allocated for marketing the release.
In addition, licensing fees are due to be paid to United Artists and Universal Pictures, while box office bonus deals have been signed with stars Daniel Craig and Rami Malek, as well as director Cary Fukunaga.
MGM also factored in the expected box official haul of over $1 billion, although whether that can be achieved in April 2021 is questionable considering the current path of the COVID-19 pandemic.
