True to its title, the latest James Bond release, Die Another Day, is showing no signs of defeat at the box office. After yielding the top spot to AOL Time Warner's
For the fledgling MGM
But major releases are few and far between for MGM. While AOL Time Warner saw its Hogwarts' star pupil place third over the weekend, its own debut of Analyze That placed second. While Disney
Because of its low profile, many of its multiplex winners, such as Barbershop earlier this year and Legally Blonde last year, tend to sneak up as sleeper hits. Then again, sneaking up is spy's work, and James Bond -- like MGM itself -- will live to die another day.
While MGM has turned a profit just once over the last five years, Wall Street is looking for it to be in the black in fiscal 2003. That's welcome news for a company whose income statements have often aped the Bond series' opening shots of a bloodied eye.
Let's just hope that tomorrow never dies.