At one point in time, things were so dire with MGM that many worried if both Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit and the next installment in the James Bond franchise — two of the biggest movies on the horizon — would ever even get made.

While The Hobbit has mostly kept its head above water, back in April it was reported that the latest James Bond, currently known only as Bond 23, would be put on hold indefinitely. This also branched out to the likelihood that popular star Daniel Craig might not ever play the role again.

But lately, MGM has been finding ways to figure things out, and many other studios have been coming to them to help get these anticipated movies made. Warner Brothers has stepped up big time, swallowing almost all of the Hobbit financial needs, and now MGM is confident enough to give Mr. Bond an official release date.

At the moment, MGM has planned a production start for sometime later this year, and the brand new Bond movie will be released on November 9, 2012. This of course could change once or twice as tends to happen with too many movies, but for now it’s an exciting leap forward for fans of the franchise.

Even better for fans is the fact that both Craig and Sam Mendes, who was set to direct but was also seemingly lost to the many delays, are set to do the movie. The duo will work from a script penned by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan.

It’s unknown who will handle the financial and distribution aspects of Bond 23 at the moment, but there are plenty of studios ready and willing to jump in and get involved if MGM hasn’t righted the ship enough by then, which is why they were able to schedule a release date.

[Source: Deadline]