unitheavenly

GRAB a martini and brace yourself for more scintillating espionage drama.

With a new director and a working title announced, here's everything we know so far about the 25th James Bond film.

When is the new James Bond film out in the UK?

James Bond will return to cinemas for the 25^th time with Daniel Craig reprising his role as 007.

The film will be released in the UK on February 14, 2020 (Valentine's Day!).

The movie was originally set to be released in the UK on October 25, 2019, but this changed when Danny Boyle quit as director.

The Sun's Bizarre column revealed in August the chances of a 2019 release for the next Bond film had been further jeopardised after Craig signed up for another role.

007 star Craig has penned a deal to play the lead in murder mystery film Knives Out, which begins filming in November — just a month before the Bond film was set to start shooting.

Who will direct the new James Bond film?

On September 20, 2019, it was revealed that the new director would be US director Cary Fukunaga.

The 41-year-old is best known for directing and exec producing the first series of True Detective.

Spectre director Sam Mendes stepped away from theBond franchise soon after its 2015 release.

Danny Boyle had previously been confirmed as his successor but on August 21, 2018, it was announced that he quit due to 'creative differences'.

What is the title of the new James Bond film?

Daniel Craig's final Jame Bond film will be called Shatterhand.

The spy flick - which is expected to be Daniel Craig's last as 007 - was previously known simply as Bond 25 but its working title was revealed in a listing in trade publication Production Weekly.

The next chapter in the spy franchise will enter production on April 6 this year in Pinewood Studios as well as on location in London and Matera, Italy.

Shatterhand, directed Cary Fukunaga, is set to be released in April 8, 2020, after being pushed back from February 14 of that year amid a major rewrite of the script.

It was previously revealed that Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, and Lea Seydoux will all return for the latest instalment.

The script has been written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade – who have worked on the last six films.

It is believed to be based on the 1999 book Never Dream of Dying by US author Raymond Benson.

Who is playing James Bond in the new film and what other cast rumours are there?

After much speculation - and an infamous quote when he said he would 'rather cut his own wrists' than do it again - Daniel Craig confirmed in August 2017 he would play Bond one more time.

Speaking on US TV, the star said: 'I have been quite cagey about it.

'I have been doing interviews all day and people have been asking me and I think I've been rather coy.

'But kind of felt like if I was going to speak the truth I should speak truth to you.'

Craig went on to say he had known he would be playing 007 again for a 'couple of months'.

Naomie Harris is expected to return as Moneypenny, and Ralph Fiennes as M, although no official announcements have been made.

Ben Whishaw, however, told Vanity Fair that he doesn’t expect to continue as Q, saying: “I’m not even sure if I’ll be in it. I’m assuming that I’m not going to be so it will be a nice surprise if they put me in. I think it’s right he and Daniel need to just figure it out. I’ve done two; I’ve had a good run.”

What have the plot leaks revealed about the film?

An astonishing plot leak has revealed that Bond 25 will see the famous spy completely transform his life.

Page Six claims the leaked plot summary reads: “Bond quits the secret service, and he’s in love and gets married.”

The plot then sees his wife get killed, which brings him back into action - which sounds similar to the plot of On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

“The film’s like Taken with Bond,' another leaked comment reads, referring to the Liam Neeson movie.

The woman that Daniel Craig's Bond marries is apparently Dr. Madeleine Swann, played by Lea Seydoux in Spectre.

Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould has remained tight-lipped on specifics but has said that the film is going to be 'very, very special.'

Posted on Monday, November 9th, 2015 by Jacob Hall

Who the hell is James Bond?

That question has been haunting the cinematic landscape for over half a century now, and it’s not easy to answer. Like any character who has had ongoing adventures for decades, the specifics of Agent 007 shift with the times. He collects baggage. He absorbs new traits. He reflects what people want out of him. Bond is less of a consistent character and more of a living time capsule – current popular culture stores itself within him, photographs him for two hours, and then catches up with him a few years later for another round.

So who was James Bond? Who is James Bond? Who will James Bond be next? These are the questions fans have been asking for years. Let’s try to answer them.

To understand the ongoing appeal of Bond is to understand that he is always changing and always evolving. This is why the bad Bond films often remain watchable and worthy of study. Do you want to know what fashions and musicians and concepts were exciting people in a given year? Pick up the corresponding James Bond movie and take a look.

Right now, we’re entering the twilight years of the Daniel Craig era, which has seen 007 deconstructed and re-assembled into something new. We know who the hell James Bond is now – this Bond is what people want out of an action hero in 2015. But Craig may be done. He may have one or two movies left in him. But eventually, maybe in 2018 or maybe 2021, we have to start asking the question again as Bond reflects a new era.

Who the hell is James Bond?

The James Bond of Yesterday

If you only know 007 from his 24 films, you owe it to yourself to pick up one of author Ian Fleming’s original James Bond novels. As the product of another era, some have aged poorly. They can be racist, unpleasant, and reflective of an imperialistic attitude that’s downright ugly to modern eyes. However, they are also fascinating windows into the mindset of a nation in the middle of an existential crisis, and Fleming had a thing for lurid, pulpy prose that propels you through past the ugly bits.

We have never seen “Ian Fleming’s Bond” on screen, although some fans will try to attach that label to Sean Connery and Daniel Craig. The Bond of Fleming’s books is a surprisingly ordinary and human hero. He bleeds, he panics, he openly weeps when he narrowly manages to avoid certain death. He’s a classic noir hero – a man who has a job to do, even when he’s in over his head. He’s also stunningly racist and sexist.

But he’s also reflective of the times in which he was created. As the British Empire crumbled in the years following World War II, the people of England had to come to grips with the fact that their dominion over much of the world was no more. They would be a handful of islands. James Bond, the English secret agent who got to travel the world, fight foreign menaces, eat exotic food, and make a difference on the global stage was wish fulfillment. It was a novelist creating a character who stood in for Britain’s lost dominance. We still matter, these books say.

When Bond leapt to the screen, he stopped being wish fulfillment for the men of a single nation and started being wish fulfillment for men (and boys) all over the world. He was cool, suave, unstoppable, and didn’t let anyone stand in his way. He drove cool cars, bedded gorgeous women, wore the best fashions, and had an enviable arsenal of high-tech gadgets. By ditching his direct attachment to the English melancholy that defines the Fleming novels, Cinematic Bond replaced the character’s purely British soul with a mirror to the rest of the world.

This is when Bond stopped being a consistent character and started being whatever we wanted him to be. This is why Connery’s Bond is an icy, unflappable man’s man, perfect for those terrifying early days of the Cold War. This is why Roger Moore’s Bond went to space, because everyone loved Star Wars two years before Moonraker. This is why Timothy Dalton’s Bond fought drug dealers, because every action hero in the ’80s fought drug dealers.

Continue Reading Where Does James Bond Go From Here? >>