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| Thursday
October 29th, 2003 |
| MGM
SINKS 'JINX' IN FAVOUR OF BOND 21 |
| Halle
Berry's Jinx has been killed off after all!
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007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson had
been planning to spinoff Berry's sexy spy character
from last year's 'Die Another Day'. But the project
has reportedly been scrapped by MGM, the studio that
distributes all the Bond films.
Jinx would have been the first Bond-based spinoff in
the franchise's 40-year history. It was slated to be
the next project on the schedule for Broccoli and Wilson's
Pinewood Studio's based Eon Productions.
Now they'll concentrate on the still-untitled 21st 007
flick, with the 52 year old Pierce Brosnan returning
as Bond.
The pair had tapped the writing team of Neal Purvis
and Rob Wade to flesh out a plot for the martial arts-trained
vixen who was introduced to moviegoers slinking sexily
out of the sea in an orange bikini in a nod to Ursula
Andress's famous scene in 'Dr. No'. Director Stephen
Frears was also said to be in talks to helm the picture.
Initial reports even envisioned the film as a launching
pad for a new film franchise.
Eon says the decision to nix Jinx was due to the usual
"creative differences" but, according to Daily Variety,
MGM was fearful Jinx might put a hex on future Bond
profits.
The studio reportedly wanted Eon to focus on getting
Bond 21 in the works and not to be distracted by a side
project. Bond films are one of MGM's most dependable
cash cows--Die Another Day raked in $413 million in
worldwide ticket sales and is one of the top-grossing
Bond flicks of all time.
While Eon could've given MGM the (gold)finger and tried
to develop Jinx with a rival studio, Broccoli and Wilson--though
reportedly none too happy--decided to cool their heels.
Officially, MGM says the Variety report is inaccurate
and Jinx had never moved beyond the drawing-board stage.
Even though Jinx is off her calendar, Berry won't exactly
be hurting for gigs. The 37-year-old Oscar winner is
currently in Toronto shooting another famous franchise
spinoff, Catwoman opposite Benjamin Bratt. The two are
slated to reunite for director Sydney Lumet's drama
'The Setup', which starts shooting next year. She also
has an option to appear in the third X-Men movie.
Berry next appears on the big screen as a pyschologist
who mysteriously winds up as a patient in a spooky loony
bin in the horror-thriller 'Gothika', which hits US
cinemas on November 21, and in the UK on 12 March 2004.
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| "The
producers prefer a 52 year old flabby white guy in a
Tux... beats me too!" |
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