It's the question on the lips of every fan now that 'Skyfall' is on their DVD shelf: when is the next James Bond movie coming out? After all, 'Skyfall' made over $1 billion at the box office, earned universal acclaim from critics and audiences and even took home a few Oscars. Surely they must be fast tracking 'Bond 24!' Although there's no date locked in yet, it looks like they have plans on 'Bond 24' hitting theaters in November, 2015.

Via Reuters, MGM CEO Gary Barber had this to say about the near future of the franchise:

We are very excited about the franchise, we look forward to announcing a director soon. We are currently developing the screenplay and working with our partners. We look forward to developing the script soon and signing a director. We are hoping within the next 3 years it will be released.

If Bond 24 is released at the far end of that three years, we'll be looking at a gap comparable to the time between 'Quantum of Solace' and 'Skyfall,' a gap that say the fifty year old franchise barely escape certain doom. There was an equally long gap between 'Die Another Day' and 'Casino Royale,' which saw the franchise completely retooled in every way. However, those have nothing on the six year break between 'License to Kill' and 'GoldenEye,' wherein the Bond team had to battle in and out of court to keep the rights to the world famous secret agent.

In other words: big breaks between Bond films are nothing new. In fact, they may be beneficial. 'Quantum of Solace' was rushed into theaters two years after 'Casino Royale' and it's a startling mediocrity wedged between two of the best films in the series. We don't know if the delay between 'Skyfall' and Bond 24 will be creative or business oriented, but we do know that everyone taking their time certainly won't hurt.

In the meantime, we can fill those years with speculation, discussion and watching 'Skyfall' over and over again. We should know who will be stepping into the director's seat sooner rather than later.

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