FAQ for
Bond 23 (2011) More at IMDbPro »

No official announcements have been made. There was a report that New York is being considered as a location, but nothing definite is known about any locations chosen. Currently nothing is known about the script or plot. No title has been chosen yet. All "reports" so far are merely speculation and rumor.

While an early report said that New York was being considered as a location, that is far from final. EON considered setting "Casino Royale" in India, and then were set to film it in South Africa, before settling on the Czech Republic. There were plans to have "Quantum of Solace" partly set in Switzerland, but those were cancelled when the film went into production. Early plans can change, and often do.

As far as titles go, there has been no concrete news. There has much speculation that EON will choose an unused Fleming short-story title (the remaining titles are "The Property of a Lady," "Risico," "The Hildebrand Rarity" and "OO7 in New York") or perhaps borrow a phrase or chapter heading from one of the Fleming Bond novels. It is also possible that an original title may be chosen. At present there is no reason to make any assumption about the title; it all remains to be seen and until an official announcement is made, any title rumors will be based solely on speculation and guesswork. It is also possible that a title announcement may be very late; the title for the last film, "Quantum of Solace," was not settled and announced until the film was already shooting.

As of 9/09, the only actors cast are Daniel Craig (Bond) and Judi Dench (M), both of whom are under contract. No official casting announcements have been made and as far as is known, no casting is underway at present. Casting is likely to begin in 2010 after the script is finalized.

The IMDB is currently listing Jesper Christensen as "Mr. White," a Quantum operative he portrayed in the previous two Bond films. Although this is currently unconfirmed, fans consider it a plausible rumor.

There have been a number of rumors that various actors have been cast or are being "considered," but most of them have turned out to be false, and a minority are unconfirmed and/or unlikely. False casting rumors include Brendan Fraser, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Frieda Pinto, Megan Fox, and Michael Sheen.

In the past, various models and actresses have been hyped as "being considered for the next Bond girl" but those stories have turned out to be fabrications for publicity's sake. A similar thing happened with singer Rikki Lee Travolta, who claimed repeatedly that he was going to be the next James Bond; it was all untrue and done for publicity. So take any casting story or rumor with a grain of salt, until official announcements are made (which aren't expected until shortly before filming starts next year).

Nothing is confirmed. Although names like Jennifer Aniston, Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie and Freida Pinto have come up in tabloids and internet gossip, they are only speculation and rumor; at present (10/09) no casting has taken place and the script is still in development. There were tabloid rumors that models Joanna Ignaczewska and Brianna Meighan were favorites for "Bond girl" roles but those stories are not taken seriously by fans and regarded as publicity stunts, nothing more.

Although it was rumored in early 2009 that Danny Boyle had been hired to direct Bond 23, Boyle himself said it was not true, although did express his fondness for the series. Marc Forster has made it clear he will not return to the series. On 01/05/10, the Hollywood Reporter claimed that Sam Mendes was "in negotiations" but this has yet to be officially confirmed. Another report surfaced that Mendes had only been hired as a "consultant with an eye to direct," but again, that has yet to be officially confirmed. Despite the lack of any real confirmation, media sources continue to report that Mendes is officially on board to direct. In truth, he is not.

Writers will be hired in January, 2009. It is aiming for a 2010 release; although, the 22nd film left Michael G. Wilson exhausted and might possibly be looking at a 2011 release. In an interview, Daniel Craig claimed that filming would begin in 2010, but did not indicate exactly when in 2010, or what the release date would be. (The last Bond film began shooting in January of 2008 and was ready for release in November of the same year.)

More recently, Craig said that production would begin in "the second half of 2010" although when actual shooting will start is another matter entirely. Currently no release date is known, although fans anticipate a fall/winter 2011 release. There have been delays for business reasons, especially the pending sale of MGM (the current distributor for Bond films), and depending on how that goes, there could be further delays.

AceShowBiz state that:

---

The next James Bond movie won't be a continuation of "Quantum of Solace" or so claimed two-time Bond depicter, Daniel Craig. Addressing the future of James Bond movie, Craig slammed down the speculation that "Bond 23" would be part of a trilogy. "No f--king way," he said to Collider at "Defiance" press day. "I'm done with that story. I want to lie on a beach for the first half an hour of the next movie drinking a cocktail."

Explaining further, the 40-year-old actor insisted, "We've finished this story as far as I'm concerned. We've got a great set of bad guys. There is an organization that we can use whenever we want to. The relationship between Bond and M is secure and Felix is secure." He then added on where he would like to see the franchise is moving on, stating, "Let's try and find where Moneypenny came from and where Q comes from. Let's do all that and have some fun with it."

---

No script details are known as of yet. All the Fleming novels and most of the stories have been adapted in some way or another. Fans consider it very likely that the script will incorporate unused elements from Fleming works (characters, locations, plot details), although few if any actually expect it to be an adaptation of a Fleming work. The producers have stated that for the foreseeable future the films will have original plots and stories, and there are no plans at present to re-adapt previously filmed Fleming works. Also, the producers have long expressed disinterest in post-Fleming Bond novels, so an adaptation of any of them is considered highly unlikely, if not out of the question.

Recently, screenwriter Peter Morgan said that it will be "a shocking story," but gave no more details. What exactly he intended by that is unknown.

After it was reported that New York was being considered as a location, rumors quickly arose that Bond 23 would be an adaptation of the short story "OO7 in New York." However, no concrete decision has been made about filming in New York; in fact, no locations are confirmed at all. As far as is known at present, the script is still in development. EON has also previously declared their intention to use original stories for the forseeable future, so an adaptation of a Fleming story appears unlikely. The story in question is actually a brief, slightly comedic travel piece with minimal plot; most fans do not consider it a viable basis for a feature film.

They will return if they are relevant to the script, however, Daniel Craig has stated that he would like to see them return.

He is on contract for four films, this being the third.

It is considered highly unlikely that SPECTRE will return, especially since Bond is pitted with an organization that is somewhat a revision or successor to SPECTRE called Quantum from the last two films. In addition it is unknown at this time to who own the rights of SPECTRE due to a long unsettling lawsuit between Kevin McClory (1926-2006), who contributed to Ian Fleming's ninth novel Thunderball, and EON Productions. Although, if the producers have gained the rights, there could be a possibility to bring back 007's arch nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

The theme song is generally one of the last parts of postproduction, so any decisions about that are far in the future. So far, various artists, bands and musicians have expressed interest, but it is unknown if EON is interested in any of them.

The producers are not likely to begin considering song choices until after shooting has completed, so reliable information may not be available until 2011.

It is unknown at this time whether or not any of Bond's enemies from the original Ian Fleming novels that were then adapted to film will return to the reboot franchise. So far, only Le Chiffre was brought up in the first reboot of the franchise, Casino Royale (2006) and remains the only other villain to be redone that was created by Ian Fleming. Bond's enemies from the Ian Fleming novels consist of Le Chiffre, Mr. Big, General Grubozaboyschikov, Rosa Klebb, Kronsteen, Red Grant and Goldfinger all of whom worked in the USSR anti-spy organization, SMERSH. While other individual villains were Hugo Drax, Dr. No, Mr. Sanguinetti, and The Spangled Mob. It still remains unclear though if Ian Fleming created the SPECTRE organization, to which featured Bond's greatest nemesis of all, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.