New Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman, who took over for Amy Pascal shortly after the widespread Sony hack, recently spoke about Sony's James Bond franchise, which continues with the highly-anticipated Spectre, in theaters November 6. The executive revealed that his studio's deal with MGM to co-finance and distribute these 007 movies comes to an end after Spectre, meaning there will likely be an all-out bidding war for the next studio to control this lucrative franchise. Here's what Tom Rothman had to say below.

"The reality is that Sony's had a fantastic run with the Bonds. Sure we're going to compete for [the rights], but let's be honest, so is everybody in the business."

There is speculation that Warner Bros. could be the next studio home for 007, due to the close relationship between MGM CEO Gary Barber and Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara. Of course, it's too early to tell now, and it's possible that Sony and MGM could come to an arrangement to extend their deal before Spectre hits theaters, which would halt the presumed bidding war that would ensue between all of the studios for the rights to the James Bond franchise.

The expiration of this deal comes at a particularly troubling time for Sony, which is rebooting its Spider-Man franchise for the third time and doesn't have a massive franchise to bank on, with the exception of James Bond. The 007 franchise is more popular than ever, thanks to the blockbuster Skyfall which was the first Bond movie to earn over $1 billion worldwide, and the theme song by Adele even won the Best Original Song Oscar as well. Do you think Sony should do whatever it takes to control the James Bond rights? Or would you like to see another studio take a crack at the franchise?