Sony took over distributing the James Bond movies with 2006's Casino Royale, which rebooted the series and brought in Daniel Craig as a less experienced James Bond. That was followed by 2008's Quantum of Solace, 2012's Skyfall and 2015's Spectre. While all the movies were commercially successful, Casino Royale and Skyfall were the critical darlings, while Quantum of Solace and Spectre earned more mixed reviews. The NYT article also noted that per the original Sony agreement, the studio was paying 50% of Spectre's production costs and only collecting 25% of "certain profits." Factor in marketing costs and giving MGM some profits from some of its non-Bond movies, even if Sony manages to hold onto James Bond, this isn't really a financial victory. It's more a way to have "bragging rights" since the franchise is still so popular after all these decades.