Pretty much everything I'm about to confirm in this news story has been rumored one way or another over the last several months, but given that MGM has managed to confirm every single one of these rumors in one fell swoop today, it seemed prudent to put it all together into one package. So, hey, here you go.
MGM held a press conference today (and we weren't invited?!?) to officially announce Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film that is currently under the direction of American Beauty and Road to Perdition helmer Sam Mendes. Obviously Daniel Craig will be back playing his gruff, kill-crazy version of James Bond, and this time he'll be going toe-to-toe with Javier Bardem, who is the film's as-yet-unnamed villain. They'll be joined by Naomie Harris as a field agent named Eve, as well as Bernice Marlohe, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, and Albert Finney. Lastly, but certainly not leastly, Judi Dench will of course return as M.
The plot hasn't been revealed yet, but Mendes reportedly stated that Skyfall won't connect directly to the last two Bond films, thus making it its own stand-alone story. That's perhaps good news for anyone who got real sick of watching Craig moan over the death of Eva Green ad nauseum in Quantum of Solace.
All of this is generally good news to Bond fans in general, considering that at one point, there was question as to whether Skyfall would happen at all. Many may recall the massive financial issues MGM was going through last year, which resulted in the cancellation or delay of numerous projects, including this latest Bond film. Now you can rest easy, for it is alive, has a cast, and is moving forward.
As someone who found Casino Royale interesting, and Quantum of Solace nearly insufferable, all the casting decisions here sound plenty good to me, and the notion of this being a stand-alone, unconnected film does my heart good, because holy hell was I turned off by the direction Quantum of Solace went in. Hopefully Mendes and the pile of contracted screenwriters can turn this thing in a direction worth paying attention to.






















































