Sony has had a long marketing partnership with the James Bond franchise, we’ve seen the super spy use Sony products in previous films but apparently the Japanese company met some resistance this time around. The latest flick titled Spectre is making waves this days and according to a new report Sony had offered $5 million to Daniel Craig, who plays Bond, to use the Xperia Z4 smartphone in the movie, but Craig and Spectre director Sam Mendes weren’t that open to the idea.
Business Insider reports that producer Barbara Broccoli had wanted Sony to increase its marketing commitment for Spectre to $18 million with payments being made to the cast and crew for using the company’s smartphones.
The report also mentions that Samsung tried to muscle its way into a deal as well, offering a massive $50 million promotion budget as well as a $5 million fee for the star to use its smartphones in the movie but that deal didn’t come to fruition.
An email from Andrew Gumpert, President of Worldwide Business Affairs and Operations for Columbia Pictures mentioned in the report highlights the creative concerns that Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig had, because “James Bond only uses the best” and in their minds the Sony phone wasn’t quite up to Bond’s standards.
It’s unclear at this point in time what smartphone they’ve decided to use, whether the director and star have decided to bite the bullet and go with the Sony smartphone or whether it’s from a manufacturer that has never appeared in a Bond film before. We’ll know for sure when Spectre hits theatres on November 6th.
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