Will 007 ever make a comeback?

James Bond's next movie mission - originally set for a November 2005 release – has been delayed.

According to Variety, the movie has been postponed because Bond studio MGM still doesn't have a director.

There's also no word on whether &to=http://english.pravda.ru/fun/2001/10/16/18253.html' target=_blank>Pierce Brosnan will be back as Bond.

Brosnan, 51, has done four movies as 007 and is the fifth actor to play the role behind Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton, informs News4Jax.com

According to Xinhuanet, the movie giant put off the release date until 2006. This means filming is unlikely to start in mid-January, and it will be difficult to have the movie ready for the previously announced premiere date of November 18th 2005.

Sources say the studio is considering Matthew Vaughn - a producer on Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - as well as Paul McGuigan, the director of Wicker Park.

The delay gives the studio and producers more time to decide who will play Bond next time out. Pierce Brosnan is reportedly still in the running to play the superspy for a fifth time - but other possibilities are said to include Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Orlando Bloom and Eric Bana.

Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are now wrangling over whether to release the new movie in the middle of 2006 or in November, Bond's traditional release month, studio officials said.

The delay in production also followed last week's confirmation that a consortium led by Sony Corp of America would buy the 80-year-old MGM studio, which has released the Bond films since 1962, for nearly $5bn.

&to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/361/11480_Jamesbond.html' target=_blank>The Bond franchise, created by the late Cubby Broccoli, remains MGM's biggest moneymaker, generating around $3.8bn in box office receipts and millions more in revenues from home video and broadcast rights.