Bond 25, Daniel Craig’s last hurrah in the blood-splattered tuxedo, is finally set to start production after months of pushbacks and behind-the-scenes palaver.
In a big announcement today (25 April), director Cary Fukunaga and producer Barbara Broccoli announced the cast, and teased some information about the upcoming adventure. Here's everything we know:
Where is it being shot?
Cary Fukunaga confirmed during the live Bond 25 announcement that some filming will take place in Jamaica. Barbara Broccoli says that at the start of the film, "Bond is not in active service. He's enjoying himself in Jamaica, his spiritual home."
They've already shot in Norway, and the team will return to Pinewood Studios before filming in the small Italian mountaintop village of Matera.
Who will be in the cast?
Daniel Craig is returning as Bond, and we’ll be seeing Ben Whishaw (Q), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), Léa Deydoux (Dr. Madeleine Swann), Ralph Fiennes (M) and Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter) reprise their roles, too.
As for newcomers, we have Rami Malek as the villain (if his brief interview above is anything to go by, in which he promises that "Mr Bond does not get an easy ride of this."), David Dencik (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), Ana De Armas (The Informer), Billy Magnussen (Into The Woods) and Dali Benssalah (Red).
What's the release date?
Bond’s 25th entry will arrive in cinemas on 8 April, 2020, almost 17 months after its original release date. The big delay came after previous director Danny Boyle left the project over a script dispute last August .
Boyle revealed to Empire magazine that producers weren’t happy with the screenplay he had worked on with his long-time creative partner, John Hodge, and decided to leave the film rather than compromise.
“I work in partnership with writers and I am not prepared to break it up … We were working very, very well, but they didn’t want to go down that route with us. So we decided to part company.”
He added: “What John Hodge and I were doing, I thought, was really good. It wasn’t finished, but it could have been really good … You have to believe in your process and part of that is the partnership I have with a writer.”
What’s it called?
For a while it was believed that the film would be called 'Shatterhand', but the name was ultimately revealed to be a placeholder that 007 producers attach to many in-the-works Bond projects. Barbara Broccoli also firmly ruled it out.
Eon productions has not confirmed a title yet, but a mysterious job listing emerged last month suggesting that it could be called ‘Eclipse’.
Who will direct Bond 25?
True Detective director Cary Fukunaga replaced Danny Boyle in the role in September 2018, and the release date was pushed back to 14 February, 2020. Talking about his plans for the movie, Cary said: "I just think, in a lot of ways […] Daniel is my favourite Bond. Trying to keep upping the ante so whoever is next has a harder job topping it".
The hiring of Fukunaga renewed rumours of Idris Elba succeeding Daniel Craig as Bond in Bond 26. The director worked with him on 2015’s Beasts of No Nation, and even talked him up for the part. “He can drive cars really well, he’s a gear-head, and he can do the action," he told The Telegraph. "If they wanted him to play Bond, he could do it."
Who wrote the screenplay?
After Boyle’s sudden exit, producers brought in Bond writing duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, as well as The Bourne Ultimatum’s Scott Z Burns, to work on the screenplay. Fleabag and Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge then worked on the script at a later stage.
What’s the plot?
Barbara Broccoli has confirmed rumours that 007 would be in retirement mode at the beginning of Bond 25. In the live stream launch, she said: "Bond is not on active service when we start. He is actually enjoying himself in Jamaica. We built an extraordinary house for him"
Talking about his plans for the character, Fukunaga told Philippine newspaper The Inquirer: “In his first Bond movie, Casino Royale, he [Daniel Craig] brought an incredible amount of vulnerability and humanity to the character, which was a big shift from Pierce Brosnan’s run.
“In terms of what I can bring to change the character, Bond is on a character arc that started with Casino Royale, and I will be carrying that on. There will be changes, I am sure. As in any story, a character has to change in order [to have] a narrative.”
Where’s the trailer?
It doesn’t exist! With production starting this month, we’re not likely to see a trailer until the end of the year.
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