Spectre is the 24th James Bond film to be released in the major franchise. The previous three films, starring Daniel Craig as the lead, have all been released under the Sony Pictures banner, but Spectre will be the final Bond film that they will distribute. On that note, you know full well that it will be open season for studios trying to seal a deal with MGM and EON to get distribution rights on the franchise. More on the story below.

According to Variety, there will be a huge bidding war for the rights to distribute James Bond. The trade says that Warner Bros. may be the one who gets the deal because of Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara has a close relationship with MGM chief Gary Barber. The pair have worked together on the recent Hobbit trilogy and are partnered up to release the Rocky spinoff Creed.