Lately, there has been next to no news about Bond 24, which is currently set to arrive next November, but that may be changing in the coming weeks now that screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have been recruited to punch up writer John Logan‘s script, a reversal of the situation on Skyfall, where Logan was enlisted to tweak a treatment by Purvis and Wade. Despite the massive success of Skyfall, the still untitled Bond 24, which director Sam Mendes calls a continuation of the last film, has been a long time coming. Now, we’re hearing that producers may finally be zeroing in on a new Bond Girl.
According to Schmoes Know, which has broken some big scoops and been right in the past, the producers want Lea Seydoux, who drew raves for her explicit breakout turn in the French lesbian drama Blue is the Warmest Color, to take on a role in Bond 24. The report calls Seydoux the “top choice” to star against Daniel Craig’s 007, though nothing official has emerged from either MGM or Seydoux’s camp.
A few months back, we reported that Penelope Cruz may have signed on for the role of a Bond Girl, and while there’s still no news on that front, rumors about many different actresses (like Helen Flanagan and Kate Upton) have been swirling for months, so it would be rash to count anyone out just yet. It’s also worth noting that Bond 24 will almost certainly have more than one Bond Girl, so both Seydoux and Cruz (and/or Flanagan, and/or Upton, though that last one seems a little too much like stunt casting) could have roles in the pic.
Schmoes Know included a previous scoop in its report about a supposed casting breakdown reading, “Lead Female (30-40) Attractive, sophisticated, cool and calm secret agent.” The source of that scoop explained that producers want a reincarnation of Die Another Day Bond Girl Miranda Frost, the sexy double agent then played by Rosamund Pike, for Bond 24. Though doubtful, if that’s the case, Seydoux certainly fits the bill.
We know very little about Bond 24 other than that Mendes is directing; Purvis and Wade are now lightening up Logan’s supposedly too serious script; Craig is retunring; and 12 Years a Slave actor Chiwetel Ejiofor may be taking on the role of the lead villain.
We’ll likely learn more about Bond 24 soon enough though – it’s still set to arrive on November 6th, 2015.