With Bond cancelled, Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig will wait it out

With news this week that MGM is officially cancelling the next Bond project, you would think that means things are dissolving entirely.

But not so. Director Sam Mendes and star Daniel Craig will reportedly keep the faith as Deadline says they will both return to the project once MGM is able to sort its shit out. We recently learned that the other flailing MGM project THE HOBBIT does not have the same ability to keep the patience of its cast, as Ian McKellen recently claimed he will walk if things don’t start moving forward.

Mendes will keep busy in the meantime by directing ON CHESIL BEACH, an adaptation of an Ian McEwan novel that he wants Carey Mulligan to star in, and also a CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Broadway musical. Huh? Sure, whatever.

Craig is already signed up for Jon Favreau’s COWBOYS AND ALIENS, and is in talks to be in David Fincher’s GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Surely that’s enough to keep him busy until he needs to put on the Bond tuxedo once again in a few years.

I don’t think it’s a question of IF we’ll see these MGM properties realized, as clearly it’s just a matter of WHEN a new Bond movie and THE HOBBIT get made. But this really is a huge mess, and it’s too bad worthwhile franchises got caught in the crossfire.