Motifs in the James Bond film series that is central to the spy film genre. The gun barrel imagery sometimes carried over to the film posters used to promote Bond films, including as a familiarising element on the introduction of Timothy Dalton for "The Living Daylights". The sequence was traditionally placed at the start of each film until the 2006 instalment "Casino Royale", where it appears after the cold open and is incorporated into the plot; in the 2008 film, "Quantum of Solace", the sequence was placed at the end of the film and incorporates the film's title in its design. For Skyfall, director Sam Mendes had
Major film studio the James Bond franchise. Columbia co-distributed the first two Bond films starring Daniel Craig after the 2005 purchase. After a third Bond film with Craig was put on hold when MGM slipped into deep financial trouble, Sony reached an agreement with MGM in April 2011 to distribute "Skyfall". Sony's distribution rights to the franchise expired in late 2015 with the release of "Spectre". In 2017, MGM and Eon offered a one-film contract to co-finance and distribute the upcoming 25th film worldwide, which was reported on 25 May 2018 to have been won by Universal Pictures. DreamWorks was founded in 1994