Everything at MGM is pretty much on hold until the company gets sold, but that doesn’t mean movies like James Bond and The Hobbit won’t happen. They just may take a little longer to get done. And while actual production may be on hold, that doesn’t mean these films’ producers aren’t planning their next step, so that once things are go, they’ll be off and running. Our sources say in the case of the 23rd James Bond movie, they may even be thinking about casting, which would explain the flurry of Bond girl rumors which have been flying around. While this rumor involves a girl, it’s definitely not another Bond girl rumor.
We’ve heard that Rachel Weisz could be involved in Bond 23. In the past she’s joked about becoming a Bond girl, and though she’s certainly beautiful, casting an actress of her caliber as yet another Bond nookie babe seems like kind of a waste. But Weisz is actually friends with Daniel Craig (in fact they’re working together on the upcoming movie Dream House) and in the past she had a personal relationship with would-be Bond 23 director Sam Mendes. All Bond girl kidding aside, she has before expressed real interest in doing a Bond movie with Craig. So why not give her something substantive in the movie, something that won’t reduce her to being 007’s latest conquest? Why not let her play the villain?
Our source says that’s exactly what they’re discussing behind the scenes of Bond 23. In fact, they’re considering Weisz to play the head of Quantum, the secret organization responsible for all the bad guy activity in the last two films. More than just another Bond babe, she’d be the mastermind pulling the strings behind everything that’s happened in Daniel Craig’s Bond movies so far, and the architect of James Bond’s suffering.
While the Bond franchise has had female villains before, they’ve never been much more than henchmen. Famke Janseen is fantastic as Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye, but she’s a follower, not a criminal mastermind. Weisz would be the first woman to take on such a role in the Bond universe, and I’d say it’s about time.
So now the big question: How likely is any of this to happen? Reality check time.
While Cinema Blend isn’t in the business of scooping news, when we do run across something interesting we feel it’s our job to share it with you, our readers, to mull over and discuss. Part of sharing information with you, for us, means that we always tell you as much as we can about where it came from. We’re not out to pull the wool over your eyes. Some rumors are more reliable than others and while we can’t always give you the names of our sources (lest they face repercussions), we feel it’s our responsibility to be up front with you about how much we know in order to allow you to decide for yourself whether this is a credible rumor or just wild speculation.
What we can tell you in this case is that our information comes from a reliable, proven source who’s broken numerous, since confirmed stories to us over a period of several years. For instance, it was this same source that was the first anywhere to break the news that Black Widow would be in Iron Man 2. But as with all rumors, even when they’re from a proven source like this one, it’s just rumor until it can be confirmed by a second, independent source. In fact this particular source affirmed that in our communication, reiterating that it’s still very early in the process and that because of this, “things can change in a heartbeat and they might even try to deny what I told you but that's what's the brainstorming going on now.” Now you know what we know.
