LONDON, England - April 20, 2010 - It looks like the next James Bond film will be delayed, very delayed.

After nearly half a century of dispatching evil megalomaniacs and their colorful henchmen, Bond has been thwarted by a more prosaic foe: debt.

The producers of the Bond films have announced that the next one in the series, which would be the 23rd, has been put on hold for the forseeable future because of the financial woes of its distributor, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.

MGM currently has a $3.7 billion debt and is struggling to find a buyer prepared to meet the $2 billion valuation for the company.

Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, of EON Productions, said in a statement overnight,”Due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of the studio, we have suspended development on ‘Bond 23’ indefinitely. We do not know when development will resume and do not have a date for the release of ‘Bond 23’.”

Any lengthy postponement of filming is certain to cloud the future of Daniel Craig in the role. Craig has been credited with revitalizing the franchise since becoming the sixth official screen 007 in Casino Royale four years ago. He reprised his gritty Bond in Quantum of Solace in 2008.

The actor is currently on location in Toronto, Canada, filming Dream House with Rachel Weisz. He said, “I have every confidence in Barbara and Michael’s decision and look forward to production resuming as quickly as possible.”