Will the 23rd James Bond film ever see the light of day?
Months after speculation that the project had been shelved, owing to MGM studio's reported financial difficulties, comes news that both director Sam Mendes and 007 himself, Daniel Craig, still feel that the film will be made.
And Hollywood web site Deadline, quoting 'reliable' sources, says that once MGM handles its debt restructuring, the project will be back on.
Part of the problem is that MGM is also committed to the two-film series The Hobbit, which must have priority over any other MGM films if the company is to convince Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson to head the project, Deadline reports.
Only once production on The Hobbit begins, probably in 2012, will MGM turn its attention to 007, the report continues.
Meanwhile, Mendes and Craig have taken up new projects while they wait: Craig will star in a remake of 2009 Swedish film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and will also have a role in the sci-fi/western flick, Cowboys and Aliens. Mendes is considering plans for a stage musical version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and will also bring to the big screen an adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel On Chesil Beach, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Photograph: Luke MacGregor / Reuters
