Bond & Sony

[Bullseye]

Will Sony be involved in the next movie? Also noted that the BD releases are MGM/Fox obviously a distribution deal, is this the case in all Regions or just B?

[Lyle_JP]

Sony is done with Bond. Or more appropriately, Eon Productions is done with Sony.

[jadedeath]

Since Sony still owns about 20% of MGM Bond will likely never be done with Sony.

Logan

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by jadedeath

Since Sony still owns about 20% of MGM Bond will likely never be done with Sony.

Logan

MGM broke off from Sony a while back and Sony is no longer handling any Bond films. I had this in an article in a previous post many months ago but I'd rather not go through all of those posts.

EDIT: Found it easier than I thought
http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?...4&t=mi6&s=news

[cjones235]

so this means if casino royale get's double dipped again it will be DTS Master Audio instead of Dolby TrueHd thank god all praise blu-ray heaven.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by cjones235

so this means if casino royale get's double dipped again it will be DTS Master Audio instead of Dolby TrueHd thank god all praise blu-ray heaven.

No, sony will still have rights to that film, but I doubt it will be put out again for a long time since we have had two versions in the past couple years

[cjones235]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

No, sony will still have rights to that film, but I doubt it will be put out again for a long time since we have had two versions in the past couple years

How is that so i thought fox completely took over MGM right.

[drobswim13]

Originally Posted by cjones235

How is that so i thought fox completely took over MGM right.

Sony only had the distribution rights. I assume that they will retain those rights.

[Lyle_JP]

Through some deal Sony has exclusive video rights to Casino Royale for x number of years (not sure how many exactly), then they'll revert fully to MGM and whoever is handling their distribution.

[RiseDarthVader]

Originally Posted by cjones235

so this means if casino royale get's double dipped again it will be DTS Master Audio instead of Dolby TrueHd thank god all praise blu-ray heaven.

There is no difference if it is Dolby TrueHD or DTS-MA it still gets decoded to PCM.

[witheygull]

Originally Posted by drobswim13

MGM broke off from Sony a while back and Sony is no longer handling any Bond films.

I am totally fine with this if it means new Bond movies will not be extended Sony commercials with some action bits thrown in. I haven't seen Quantum of Solace yet, so I'm not sure how bad it is there, but the Sony product placement in Casino Royale is atrociously blatant.

If you want to get a quick case of alcohol poisoning, play my Casino Royale drinking game. Every time a separate Sony device is shown on screen, take a shot. You will end up doing at least seven shots in the first 35 minutes of the movie.

It really irks me that director Martin Campbell apparently had to compose his shots so as to satisfy Sony's marketing department. For example, look at just about any shot in the movie in which a cell phone display is shown. In most films, the shot would be composed so that the top of the phone display is very close to the top of the film frame. In Casino Royale, however, the phone is shifted down in the frame so that the Sony label above the display is clearly legible.

Compare that composition to any shot that includes a piece of electronics that is not manufactured by Sony. Take the scene where Bond uses the defibrillator in his car. Who manufactures the defibrillator? I have no idea because there is no closeup shot featuring the manufacturer's name on the device. I suspect the lack of branding on the defibrillator is due to the fact that Sony doesn't make those devices rather than an artistic choice by Campbell.

Perhaps the most egregious product placement though is when Bond sneaks into the security room at the Ocean Club. He rifles through the discs storing the security videos, finds the one he's looking for, and pops it into... a Sony blu-ray player. Blu-ray launched less than six months prior to the release of Casino Royale; what possible reason could there be for the Ocean Club to be shown as such an early adopter of a then-struggling format? Could it be that Sony seized an opportunity to have Bond pimp their new toy? Methinks yes. Obviously I love blu-ray since I am on this forum, but I don't think this movie was the appropriate venue to showcase the format.

Don't get me wrong, I do like Casino Royale as a whole (though I do think the story drags after the poker game). I just found the constant showcasing of Sony products diminished my enjoyment of this otherwise solid film.

I'm not even generally opposed to product placement in movies, but I prefer it to be in the background or played for comedy (such as in Return of the Killer Tomatoes or Wayne's World), rather than feel like I'm being beaten over the head with it.

Whew. End rant.

[Liquid-Prince]

Originally Posted by witheygull

I am totally fine with this if it means new Bond movies will not be extended Sony commercials with some action bits thrown in. I haven't seen Quantum of Solace yet, so I'm not sure how bad it is there, but the Sony product placement in Casino Royale is atrociously blatant.

It wasn't that bad... There was Sony phones, a Blu-ray player, and a VAIO laptop... That's nothing...

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by Liquid-Prince

It wasn't that bad... There was Sony phones, a Blu-ray player, and a VAIO laptop... That's nothing...

Yeah, it's not like Pepsi and Back to the Future.

Logan

[Red Hood]

Originally Posted by jadedeath

Yeah, it's not like Pepsi and Back to the Future.

Logan

I heard Mr. Fusion was originally supposed to be Mr. Pepsi.