Filming for the 24th James Bond film is officially set to begin on December 6th (originally it was due before the cameras one month earlier), with Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris and Rory Kinnear returning as James Bond, M, Q, Eve Moneypenny and Tanner. Skyfall director Sam Mendes is back behind the camera for his second Bond movie, and the man who wrote the 50th Anniversary adventure, John Logan, has prepared the screenplay for Bond 24.
This will be Daniel Craig's fourth outing as 007, and he's already signed up for a fifth. With John Logan also announced to be scripting Bond 25.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. No other cast members have been announced for Bond 24 as yet, but Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor has been linked to the role of the main villain for several months, and he is apparently Mendes' first choice for the part. Expect an official announcement on that very soon. Bond's antagonist is thought to be the head of an "old evil organization", which could be the return of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. I really like this idea, it seemed like they were going this way for Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, and then the end of Skyfall nicely paid tribute to those early Bond adventures, so it's quite a reasonable suggestion.
Several other names have been rumoured to be linked to the movie, but that's all the seem to be - rumours! Amongst them is Game of Thrones Hafþór JúlÃus Björnsson, AKA The Mountain. Thought to be a henchman character similar to Jaws (and what a nice tribute to the recently departed Richard Kiel that would be), he's certainly built for the part.
When it comes to the Bond girls, a whole host of actresses have been linked to the film. Apparently Bond 24 will feature a "Scandinavian-born blonde" and a "British Bond girl". Both Blake Lively and Amber Heard were rumored to have screen tested several months back, but recently their names have fallen away from the project. More recently Penelope Cruz and Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt have both linked with Bond girl roles. In August Schmoes Know claimed that Blue is the Warmest Color actress Lea Seydoux is on the short list for a role that could be double agent Miranda Frost, previously portrayed by Rosamund Pike in Die Another Day.
It is thought that overseas location filming will take place in Austria, Morocco and Rome - with the latter being the backdrop for an epic car chase.
In August The Sun quoted an MGM source as supposedly saying that Sam Smith is the "top choice" to record the next James Bond theme song. Smith quickly denied it, but then so did Adele in regard to Skyfall when she was revealed to be secretly recording the title track.
Whatever the title ends up being, Bond 24 will be released in the UK on October 23rd 2015, and in the US on November 6th 2015. We'll be there, will you?
