'Bond 25' Updates: Rami Malek to star as main villain; Billy Magnussen in talks for CIA operative role
It's easy to forget that another James Bond film is still on the way. Yes, after numerous delays and false starts, Bond 25 (the working title Shatterhand is the only clue we have for the official title) is scheduled to arrive in theaters around the world on April 8, 2020, under the direction of Beasts of No Nation's Cary Fukunaga. Am I positive that Bond will hit that release date? Absolutely not. Production hasn't even commenced yet, which means Fukunaga and his team will have to undertake a pretty quick turnaround in post-production to get this thing into theaters by next spring. But production will supposedly start very, very soon, so Daniel Craig's version of the superspy will absolutely be flying into theaters in the near future- albeit a whopping five years after Sam Mendes' Spectre.
With the production nearing its inception, news is flying about who will star in the 25th chapter of the franchise. We already knew Craig is returning for his fifth and final curtain call as Bond, James Bond, and according to Collider, he'll be joined by Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Whishaw, all of whom will be reprising their roles from Spectre.
But Collider also dropped a pretty big scoop last week when Jeff Sneider revealed that Rami Malek, coming off an Oscar win for Bohemian Rhapsody, is now confirmed to be playing the villain in the next Bond film. Malek's name had been swirling around in discussions for quite some time, but the confirmation comes after Malek's team and the Broccoli family at Eon managed to find time for the next season of Mr. Robot and the latest Bond film. Sneider notes that the villain is rumored to be a blind man, which could be an interesting twist on such a fundamental archetype of the action genre.
In addition to the Malek news, Collider also confirmed that Lupita Nyong'o was high on the producers' list to play a Bond girl, but Deadline later reported that the Nyong'o deal had fallen through. Variety's Justin Kroll mostly echoed Sneider's reports, but he added that Billy Magnussen of Velvet Buzzsaw and Ingrid Goes West fame is the studio's "top choice" to play a CIA operative. Variety later emphasized that both of the female leads remain completely open.
As one of the people who found both Bohemian Rhapsody and Malek's performance to be massive letdowns, I can't say I have much of a reaction to the news of his casting. At least they're keeping up the streak of Oscar winners as Bond villains, I guess? I'm excited by Magnussen's casting, though I'm having an incredibly hard time imagining him in a serious role; the dude is funny as hell in Ingrid Goes West and Game Night, but I'm not sure he's going to click as a dramatic actor.
No matter who they cast, the aura of chaos has been inescapable around this project for nearly four years at this point, and it isn't slowing down with the impending production. Scott Z. Burns is currently re-writing the script, so it's once again abundantly clear that nobody really knows what they want this film to be. Even as a die-hard Bond fan, this doesn't seem encouraging.
Bond 25 will be released on April 8, 2020. At least that's what we're all hoping for.
Image: Fox
With the production nearing its inception, news is flying about who will star in the 25th chapter of the franchise. We already knew Craig is returning for his fifth and final curtain call as Bond, James Bond, and according to Collider, he'll be joined by Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Whishaw, all of whom will be reprising their roles from Spectre.
But Collider also dropped a pretty big scoop last week when Jeff Sneider revealed that Rami Malek, coming off an Oscar win for Bohemian Rhapsody, is now confirmed to be playing the villain in the next Bond film. Malek's name had been swirling around in discussions for quite some time, but the confirmation comes after Malek's team and the Broccoli family at Eon managed to find time for the next season of Mr. Robot and the latest Bond film. Sneider notes that the villain is rumored to be a blind man, which could be an interesting twist on such a fundamental archetype of the action genre.
In addition to the Malek news, Collider also confirmed that Lupita Nyong'o was high on the producers' list to play a Bond girl, but Deadline later reported that the Nyong'o deal had fallen through. Variety's Justin Kroll mostly echoed Sneider's reports, but he added that Billy Magnussen of Velvet Buzzsaw and Ingrid Goes West fame is the studio's "top choice" to play a CIA operative. Variety later emphasized that both of the female leads remain completely open.
As one of the people who found both Bohemian Rhapsody and Malek's performance to be massive letdowns, I can't say I have much of a reaction to the news of his casting. At least they're keeping up the streak of Oscar winners as Bond villains, I guess? I'm excited by Magnussen's casting, though I'm having an incredibly hard time imagining him in a serious role; the dude is funny as hell in Ingrid Goes West and Game Night, but I'm not sure he's going to click as a dramatic actor.
No matter who they cast, the aura of chaos has been inescapable around this project for nearly four years at this point, and it isn't slowing down with the impending production. Scott Z. Burns is currently re-writing the script, so it's once again abundantly clear that nobody really knows what they want this film to be. Even as a die-hard Bond fan, this doesn't seem encouraging.
Bond 25 will be released on April 8, 2020. At least that's what we're all hoping for.
Image: Fox
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