Yesterday James Bond fans were treated to a major reveal event online which presented the cast of the upcoming 25th James Bond film. We saw who was returning to the franchise, including, of course, Daniel Craig, in the lead role. We also saw some brand new faces, such as Rami Malek who will play the unnamed film's unnamed villain. However, while everything appears to be ready to rock for the new movie, a new report claims the movie is about to get underway without a completed script.
The report comes from Page Six an it cites and unnamed source, "close to Bond 25" that says the reason that we didn't get a title for the new Bond movie as part of yesterday's reveal is that there isn't one, and also, there's no script. It seems that the plot synopsis that was given, which sees the film open with James Bond retired in Jamaica, is set, but what exactly happens after that isn't exactly clear.
It's certainly no secret that the latest Bond movie has had some issues when it comes to the script. The first script for the movie was written by John Hodge when Danny Boyle was going to direct the movie. However, when Boyle left the production, that script was thrown out.
The script was then given back to Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have been responsible for the last several James Bond scripts, including all of them during Daniel Craig's tenure as the character.
However, it seems that whatever Purvis and Wade came up with wasn't quite what people were looking for either, as Scott Z. Burns, a noted script doctor, was reportedly brought in overhaul the story.
As part of yesterday's reveal, it was confirmed that Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Scott Z Burns, all have writing credits on the new script. It also adds a fourth name that was recently announced Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It seems Daniel Craig himself has brought in Waller-Bridge at the last minute to add some wit to the story..
Bond 25 has already seen its release date pushed back once and it's difficult to imagine that the big casting reveal would have taken place yesterday if everybody involved wasn't at least confident enough in the information that was shared. That means it's unlikely the story is going to change so much that anybody who was announced as being in the movie won't actually be in the movie.
It's certainly possible that there are some questions in the script and that it isn't technically "final," but lots of films go through changes while shooting and it would be a mistake to read too much into that.
Considering that we're dealing with unnamed sources with mysterious connections to the production, it's hard to be particularly confident in this report.
If there is truth to this, we could see the new film's production get delayed once again, or see it potentially take much longer than anticipated to film. If neither of those things happen, then it would seem that whatever issues the script might be having, they're not all that important.
