Bond 23 in 2012

Bond producer Barbara Broccoli announced recently that the next Bond movie would be released in 2012 - four years after Quantum of Solace - and that Daniel Craig would resume his role as Bond.

Since that announcement there has been a lack of news, apart from the usual made up stories in the press (Sean Connery to play M,Kate Middleton to be Miss Moneypenny.......). The Hobbit and Superman are released next year, the same time as the scheduled release of Bond 23, but they are much more advanced in the production.

Eon will probably rush to put a film together for next year and we will have another mess like Quantum of Solace. Now is the time to delay Bond 23 until 2013 and have a rethink and come back with a new actor playing James Bond. Unfortunately Barbara Broccoli would rather mothball the Bond series than make a Bond film without Craig.

Anthony Hopkins to Play 'Bond 23' Villain?

Our old friends at the British tabloid The Sun floated supposed insider information that Anthony Hopkins, on time Tomorrow Never Dies (Bond 18) villain, was in talks to take on Craig in Bond 23, or perhaps another more prestigious role since Hopkins was allegedly about to sign on for a recurring  role. Too good to be true? You bet.

"The only stumbling block seems to be the number of films he is signing up for. There is a chance the character they want him to play could become a regular feature, like Blofeld back in the day."

 None of this had any basis in fact nor the real world as it turns out. In a press function for his movie The Rite Sir Anthony was asked about his possible involvement. His response was one of absolute shock.

You must ask my agent because I know nothing about it.

Luckly his agent was at hand to fully put the mystery to rest with his quick response of:

First I’ve heard of it too!

  Not that Sir Anthony had been keeping up with the going-ons of the Bond series drama. According to reports he wanted to know if Pierce Brosnan was still making 007 movies. Who can blame him?

So where does that leave us on Bond 23 casting? No Hopkins, that was a red herring. No Kevin Spacey turns out this rumor was also spurious. Javier Bardem did indeed confirm he was approached about playing the villains role however wanted to see a script first and since then he may have taken up a demanding role in The Dark Tower trilogy making him unavailable for Bond 23. Final score Danny Craig and Dame Judi Dench are the only firm casting to date. Let just hope they don't decide to play dress-up again!