PINEWOOD The production company behind all the James Bond films is to branch out with a big Hollywood contract for thrillers and family movies.

Eon Productions has signed a deal with Columbia Pictures, to develop a series of films with budgets of up to $80 million (£40 million).

However, producers from Eon said they were struggling to find British writers with an imagination big enough for their vision.

Five projects are in development, and ten further films are expected to be finalised by the end of the month. They include Dark Winter, a thriller about the kidnapped daughter of a Russian oligarch, and Divorcing Reno, a comedy about a suicidal man who gets a second chance.

Alby James, a former director for the BBC and the Royal Shakespeare Company, who heads the Eon Screenwriters’ Workshop, said that too many British writers had become accustomed to writing for the small screen. He said: “Television is what we do well. But we must add to what we do.”

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