Hollywood studios angling for a piece of the James Bond action may have winced when MGM Holdings reported second-quarter earnings Wednesday. With movie unit revenues tumbling 69 percent from last year to $1.1 million, overall revenues were down 13 percent to $273.4 million and earnings were off 9 percent to $37 million.
Things could turn around when the next 007 film “Spectre” has its world premiere in London on October 26 and arrives in the U.S. on Nov. 6, and it will also mark the end of Sony’s hold on distribution rights to the Bond films.
Most of the majors are likely to mount bids, but this year’s string of film misfires means that MGM CEO Gary Barber, a tough negotiator to being with, will have incentive to look for more co-production cash when he cuts a new distribution deal.
MGM’s box office performance in 2015 has been disappointing. The studio should see a profit on the low-budget patriotic pooch pic “Max,” but the Reese Witherspoon-Sofia Vergara comedy “Hot Pursuit”and “Poltergeist” remake underperformed in the second quarter and “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” tanked.
MGM wasn’t talking Thursday, and Bond rights holder Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael Wilson of Eon Productions could have a say in the the decision.
In recent years, MGM has partnered with just about every major studio. This November’s “Rocky” spinoff “Creed” will be released through Warner Bros., while its “Ben-Hur” remake coming via Paramount in February 2016.
Warner Bros. is thought to have the inside track on the 007 rights, because of the its shared success with MGM on the “Hobbit” movies and Barber’s good relationship with its CEO Kevin Tsujihara.
While film revenues were down for Q2, MGM reported a 15 percent rise in TV licensing, to $159.6 million.
MGM, which is privately held but has reported financials since its bankruptcy in 2010, also said it had repurchased 700,000 of its shares since the end of the second quarter on June 30.