
Columbia Pictures
Normally, it’s not really huge, breaking news that a movie that is supposed to begin filming soon is going to, in fact, begin filming soon, but when it comes to the recent history of the James Bond franchise, any production news is great news. Originally supposed to begin shooting in November, the unnamed 24th film of the celebrated franchise is now officially set to begin filming on Dec. 6, according to Variety, which puts it on track for its UK and US release dates of Oct. 23, 2015 and Nov. 6, 2015, respectively. Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Whishaw are set to return, with Skyfall director Sam Mendes also on board.
As for the rest of the details, well, the name of the movie might as well be Your Guess is as Good as Mine. But for the sake of scratching all of your James Bond itches, here is a rundown of the most recent, reputable and widely spread rumors about how Bond 24 might look once it finally hits the screen next year:
– According to the James Bond fan site MI6, everyone from HQ is returning for Bond 24, with the exception of Judi Dench, obviously. That means that Naomie Harris will still be providing the sexual tension between Moneypenny and Bond.
– Additionally, MI6 reports that the three locations featured in Bond 24 – or at least those that will be used for filming – will be Austria, Rome (specifically, a car chase) and Morocco.
– Back in April, it was rumored that Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor was Mendes’s choice to play the main villain in 24. As recently as last week, his name was still at the top of the rumor pile, because his IMDB profile has Bond 24 listed, and he doesn’t have much else in the works.

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– The actual bad guy, though, is going to be an “old evil organization,” which suggests that as the 25th anniversary approaches, we could see SPECTRE coming back into play. That’s basically what it seemed like they were trying to do with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, but it all fell apart, and we instead got the wonderful Skyfall. Obviously, the evil organization needs a leader, so that would be the role that Ejiofor is attached to.
– Like any good global supervillain, Bond 24’s bad guy is going to need “a classic physically imposing character,” perhaps as a tribute to the recently-deceased Richard Kiel, whose Jaws lives on as the greatest Bond henchman. So how do you pay tribute to that legacy? By bringing in TV’s biggest badass – Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, AKA The Mountain from Game of Thrones. Again, that’s just a rumor and the role isn’t even listed as rumored on his IMDB page, but YES PLEASE.

HBO
– Bros, what about the Bond babes? As recently as May, Blake Lively and Amber Heard were rumored to have been up for a Bond girl role, but that definitely seems to have changed. Just about every site with a rumor to share claims that Mendes and Co. are casting a “Scandinavian-born blonde actress” for one Bond girl role, but it is also believed that another Bond girl will be British. Despite both of those nationalities, Schmoes Know claimed in a “HOT SCOOP!” last month that Blue is the Warmest Color actress Lea Seydoux is on the short list for one role that may or may not be double agent Miranda Frost, who was previously portrayed by the angelic Rosamund Pike in Die Another Day.

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– All right, we’ve got the top rumors for the bad guy and his henchman, as well as the Bond girls, locations and even a continuing theme for Bond 25. What about the title song? Which music artist is going to try to follow Adele’s incredible “Skyfall” anthem? Well, remember back in 2010 how everyone on Earth knew it was Adele, but she and the movie’s producers still denied it? British soul singer Sam Smith has recently been named as the artist to take on the Bond 24 song, but he has since denied that. He’s a perfect, timely choice, so short of U2 deciding they want the honor, let’s go ahead and pencil Smith in.
– Finally, while Metro thinks that James Bond should die at the end of 24, perhaps for some sort of character renaissance for Bond 25, Daniel Craig is still signed on for at least one more, which means that Denzel Washington is going to have to wait a little while longer.
Idris Elba’s too imposing. Chiwetel Ejiofor actually could have worked.
Only one actor can play the villain in BOND 24: Kiefer Sutherland!
Bond vs Snake
Have him killed by Jason Bourne. ALL OF THE CROSSOVERS!
Who is that red-head up there with Tiger Woods? Smoking hot!
Looks way better than the nosejob-waiting-to-happen blonde.
Dude. What? You do realize we live in a world where The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day exist, right?
No way. Casino Royal and Skyfall are fantastic. Quantum of Buttplay is terrible, yes – but nowhere near as bad as Die Another Day, or every Bond Film Roger Moore made after For Your Eyes Only.
I would argue that The World is Not Enough was decent, simply because of that French broad’s nipple slip, and the opening scene. Yes, Denise Richards is terrible despite her fantastic tits.
I would love to see them completely re-do Bond as a Puerto Rican, with Jeffery Wright playng him, using that awesomely terrible accent he used in the Sam Jackson Shaft remake.
Bon’. Peeples Bon’. ¿Mira?
Why would they kill off Bond? They’ve never done it in any of the other films! They just replace the character and that’s it, I don’t want some ridiculous death scene. These rumours are why we can’t have nice things.
They finally won the court battle over the use of Spectre and Blowfelt, right? I think the re-emergence of these two entities makes this the most exciting Bond film in decades.
McClory die or something?
He’s a bit old now, but Colin Salmon looks the part.
Actually the apparent death of Bond is a recurrent theme in the early Bond films, and was nicely re-introduced in Skyfall. From Russia With Love opens with Red Grant (actually the greatest henchman of any Bond film – Richard Kiel’s Jaws was a ridiculous cartoon) garroting Bond (actually an imposter in a rubber mask), Thunderball’s opening shot is a coffin with the initials JB on it, and You Only Live Twice begins with Bond’s (faked) assassination. The idea is that Bond is both an instrument of death and, as a man, performs a perpetual dance with death.
If this rumor holds any water, my guess would be that they will play up a rumor of Bond’s death and have an apparent death scene near the end, only to wrap up with a “just kidding” epilogue. Or they might also be thinking about a kind of cliff hanger in the spirit of the novel “From Russia With Love”, which ends with Bond succumbing to the venom in Rosa Klebb’s steel bladed shoe. Here, Ian Flemming was taking a page from Arthur Conan Doyle, by killing his hero while deciding whether or not he wants to continue with the series. Probably not a great idea for a film franchise, since the audience knows, as the post script always goes, that “James Bond Will Return”.
Obviously, the next Bond girl should be Karen Gillan.
[cdn1.sciencefiction.com]
I wish.
Felicity Firecrotch?
YES.
Cabernet Daywalker
Mmmmmm
Foxy Redmuff
She only eats at Wendy’s.
Girl needs to eat more Wendy’s. Get some meat on her bones.
Who is this dude and why is he wearing a wig and bra?
Apparently you guys aren’t into faces.
So are they actually gonna call them SPECTRE or are they sticking with Quantum?
I think they should call it SPOOK
HYDRA
Unless you DID mention it and I missed it, one big missing piece from Skyfall that, for me, made Skyfall so fucking good, is Roger Deakins.
Meh, I don’t think Craig is the problem. Movies in general now are just too serious and too morose.
Even comic book movies which I loathe regardless, are somehow written to be serious.
I’m sorry but as movies Craigs have been the best. I don’t think you can look at any classic Bond movie and say they’re any good. They’re terrible, just the worst writing ever.
Nah. From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and even The Spy Who Loved me are great movies. Sure, the special effects are a bit dated – but the characters and stories are fantastic.
@Underball If you are going that way, how about Freddy Rodriguez?
“Bond. Jaime Bond, palomita.”
puerto rican? leguizamo is puerto rican right?!
i guess the living daylights and timothy dalton didnt exist
Tiger Woos? I like heem.
Actually, The Living Daylights is a great Bond movie. the followup, License to Kill is dreadful though.
chu gotta boat?
Wha kinnah Boa’ cuh got?
How about, we gather up all the actors who have played James Bond, and in the movie, all of them (including James) get gang raped and brutally tortured. Than the terrorist organization wins and nukes planet earth, resulting in Bond’s universe being destoryed.
Then we never get another one of these fucking terrible movies, ever again.
@DEVO Leguizamo is Colombian. Maybe you are thinking about a character of his comedy show.