It appears that the troubled times at MGM have claimed a victim: James Bond. MGM has been on the selling block for a while, and yet no one has stepped up to buy the studio, so their ability to develop projects is pretty much toast right now.
Here’s hoping this situation is resolved sooner rather than later, what with the Bond franchise having received an enormous creative rejuvenation in the last couple of films (and having found a terrific actor in Daniel Craig as Bond to boot).
Same thing's happening to The Hobbit at MGM, too. So it's pretty sucky all over.