After much delay, production’s finally about to begin on Bond 25, the currently untitled fifth movie for Daniel Craig as James Bond. The film’s expected to bring back a few familiar faces from past installments in the franchise, but if this new rumor’s to be believed, it’ll also buff out the cast list with two names that would be huge coups for the series.
SassiLive is the Italian publication that broke the story that Bond 25 would be filming in the Sassi Di Matera in Italy with an expected April start date. The same article also makes the much bolder claim though that both Emma Stone and Dakota Johnson will be “probable” stars of 007’s next adventure, joining returning Bond girl Lea Seydoux opposite Craig.
Before we proceed any further, we should note that this rumor’s a bit suspect in many ways. For one, it’s uncommon for the Bond films to land one major Hollywood actress let alone two in the same film, with the franchise generally preferring up-and-coming stars of different nationalities. What’s more, Stone and Johnson both have packed schedules already, as the former’s currently busy on Zombieland: Double Tap while Johnson’s about to star in The Friend with Casey Affleck.
Still, another big name was previously linked to the movie not too long ago so maybe director Cary Fukunaga’s just aiming high. If you’ll recall, Bohemian Rhapsody‘s Rami Malek has been rumored for the role of the main villain of Bond 25 several times now, something he’s played coy about in interviews.
Whoever the new stars are, Bond 25 is expected to bring back MI6 regulars Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomi Harris as Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as Q. And, as said above, Seydoux is returning as Madeline Swann, which makes her the first Bond girl since Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson) in 1963’s From Russia with Love to star in two movies.
Again, we’d advise taking this latest update with a grain of salt, but we’ll keep you updated as more on Bond 25 comes in. If production really is starting in April, we should begin to hear of some official news relatively soon.