Whenever the latest round of rumours for Bond 23 start up again, it’s sure to be a wild ride into the depths of casting and storyline speculation. Still, shooting is scheduled to start this fall, so MGM is bound to narrow down their choices in the near future. Naturally, Daniel Craig will return as 007, but the identity of the Bond Girl is still technically up for grabs. An offer for that very role has reportedly gone out to none other than exotic beauty Naomie Harris, who is known for her captivating performances in movies like 28 Days Later (in which she kicked some zombie a**), two of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (in which she charmed the audience as well as her fellow cast members, including Orlando Bloom), and Street Kings (in which she had only a minor role but held her own against the boys). Now, will Naomie accept a role alongside James Bond? One can only hope:

Recently, a rumor began circling around that actress Naomie Harris had been approached to star in the tentatively-titled James Bond 23 as the new attractive assistant to Daniel Craig’s version of the slick spy. Or, rather, that’s what a British tabloid was claiming.

However, both EW and IndieWire have since confirmed (via their own sources) what the tabloid News of the World originally reported: That Harris is being considered for a role in next year’s installment, possibly that of Bond’s “sexy sidekick”. It ought to be noted, though, that Harris has not yet confirmed whether she has (or plans to) accept said part – or if she’s actually up for another role entirely. At this point, it’s even possible she’s up for the onetime rumored female villain part in the film.

Harris has proven herself capable of playing a deadly warrior woman onscreen (see: 28 Days Later and Ninja Assassin) and is more than easy enough on the eyes to work as a lovely kick-ass Bond girl. Most U.S. moviegoers are likely familiar with Harris for her turn as Tia Dalma/Calypso in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean movies – and even with all the makeup she donned for that role, Harris still made that (literal) goddess in human form a sly and seductive character. So if she does end up signing on as the new Bond gal, she could definitely make for a memorable one.

[From Screenrant]

Quite simply put, Naomie is a devastatingly gorgeous woman with a great deal of onscreen charisma, and she’d be an asset to Bond either as an actual Bond Girl or as a villain. Either way, Kaiser is hoping that Naomie ends up in bed with Daniel Craig. Can you imagine the two of them rolling around in tangled bedsheets? Or maybe Javier Bardem’s rumored involvement will come to fruition, and she can wrestle both of them (even at the same time). Whew.

Photos courtesy of Fame Pictures and WENN

The fate of the James Bond franchise has made the cover for this week’s Entertainment Weekly. Apparently, many in Hollywood think that Bond might not be resuscitated – the franchise’s home, MGM is close to bankruptcy, they were supposed to start filming on Daniel Craig’s third outing as Bond earlier this year, but had to quit because of money woes, and plus, maybe Bond doesn’t have a place in today’s world? No, it’s mostly about the money, I think. Because Daniel Craig successfully rebooted the franchise in 2006 with Casino Royale, and I would think that Bond is one of the most financially successful franchises in history. So what’s the problem, again?

These are dark days for James Bond fans. It will likely be years before 007 returns to the screen, thanks to money troubles at MGM, Bond’s longtime studio, which has been up for sale since November. Even Daniel Craig seems to have moved on, signing up for the lead in a different potential franchise, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The last time the Bond series was put on this sort of “indefinite” hold was back in the early 1990s, after a series of legal battles (and Timothy Dalton) nearly wrecked the series. It took six years to get it up and running again. And in Hollywood today, six years is an eternity.

“No franchise can afford to be away from screens for that long anymore,” says a former MGM exec. “You lose too much momentum. Even for Bond, it could be deadly.”

Of course, Bond has defied death before — just ask Blofeld — so we’re not counting him out just yet.

One possibility: “[MGM] should sell the Bond franchise for a billion dollars to some sovereign company in Abu Dhabi and promise to make Bond movies in Abu Dhabi from now on,” suggest one financial analyst familiar with the MGM sale.

The name is Bond, Jamal Bond. We could live with that.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

So, what do you think? Does everyone need to just let James Bond go, to let the franchise die for a decade, when some studio will pick up the property and reboot it with yet another actor? I have to admit, the thought of Craig never playing Bond again depresses me. I love him as Bond, I think he’s wonderful. More so in Casino Royale than that turd Quantum of Solace.

And if Bond does get a reboot, who would play him then? Jon Hamm? Idris Elba? Clive Owen?

EW cover courtesy of Pop Crunch. Promotional image from Casino Roale, plus Daniel Craig on October 14, 2005. Credit: WENN.

Ever since the James Bond franchise got a reboot with the casting of Daniel Craig, back in 2005, Angelina Jolie has been one of the consistently rumored names for a potential Bond girl. I believe Angelina denied that she was offered the part of Vesper Lynd (that went to Eva Green), but Angelina was mentioned quite a bit when Quantum of Solace was still in pre-production, and she’s been mentioned again for whatever the third Daniel Craig-lead Bond film will be. In the August Vanity Fair, Angelina confirms everyone’s suspicions – that she was approached – but shuts down any hope of ever seeing her join the Bond girl ranks of Halle Berry and Eva Green and Honor Blackman.

[Angelina is promoting] Salt, directed by Phillip Noyce and co-starring Liev Schreiber, which opens this month and which, with its hanging chad of an ending, seems meant to start a Bourne-like franchise, in this instance chronicling the explouts of the ass-kicking Evelyn Salt. [How Salt came about] really does say something significant about Jolie. It goes to character, as they say in court.

“It started with a call from Amy [Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures],” Jolie told me. “She asked if I wanted to play a Bond girl. I said, ‘No, I’m not comfortable with that, but I would like to play Bond.’ We laughed, and then, about a year later, she called back and said, ‘I think I found it.’”

[From Vanity Fair, print edtion]

Angelina then explains the process of changing the gender of the lead character, which was written for a man (specifically Tom Cruise):

“You think it would be easy [to change]. You just flip the character from Edwin to Edwina. But it was a lot trickier than we thought. For example, the male character had a child. And he knows he’ll be in danger much of the time. And we realized that, as a woman, if you knew your life was at risk, you’d never have a child. The physicality had to change too. I’m smaller than everybody, so how do I go up against a bunch of men without looking silly? How do I fight? We made her meaner than a guy, and dirty. She uses the walls, the fact that she’s lighter and can throw herself around. It’s the Chihuahua up against the big dogs.”

[From Vanity Fair, print edition]

Also, in the online excerpts that Vanity Fair released last week, they made it sound like Angelina just said she “loved Brad in every state” regarding his mangy beard, full-stop. The actual text of the piece gives a different story:

When I ask Jolie is Pitt still has that wispy beard that had been seen in every tabloid, that strange Lebowski-like concoction, she smiled sadly and said, “Yes, he does.”

When I asked her opinion of it, she smiled, again sadly, and said, “I love Brad in every state.”

[From Vanity Fair, print edition]

Ooh, she was sad about his beard! I was sad about his beard too. You know that thing had ticks, I swear.

Anyway, I’m just thrilled I got my Vanity Fair and I wanted to share! There wasn’t much beyond the excerpts released online, honestly. Oh, and Angelina did not tell any Pax stories, it’s not that Pax was edited out online – she honestly talked about all of her kids except Pax. Poor Pax (Fred!).

Angelina on June 30, 2010. Credit: REUTERS/Geraldo Garcia.

According to Life & Style (story via Jezebel), Angelina Jolie was recently asked what she thought of people comparing Megan Fox to her. Allegedly, Angelina replied, “Is she aiding in Africa or sitting in on U.N. conferences? Donating herself to something bigger than Hollywood? I’m not familiar with her work, is she an Oscar contender?” Now, if Angelina actually said that (and I hope she did), it would be a great way to put Megan in her place. Megan can’t go one interview without talking about Angelina, or coyly referencing her in some way, all the while trying her best to be the most budget version of Angelina.

There were always rumors about Angelina and a possible role in a James Bond film. Jolie was rumored to be up for the role in Casino Royale, but was allegedly dropped from consideration because of her then-pregnancy with Shiloh. The rumors heat up whenever there are casting decisions to be made about an upcoming Bond film, and most of the time the rumors are along the lines of “Angelina’s not really interested at this point”. Well, now Megan Fox is trying to one-up her Single White Female-esque object of emulation. Fox has declared that she’s turned down an offer to work on the next Bond film. So the score is: Megan Fox: zero, James Bond: a million.

In a shockingly bad career move (in our humble opinion, at least), Megan Fox has announced she’s turned down an offer to star opposite Daniel Craig in the next Bond film. Really!?

The chance to join the prestigious list of female A-listers with the looks and brains to challenge and roll with Bond? (We’ll have to exclude Denise Richards from that list though.) Apparently, she’s just not impressed by the notion and feels the role wouldn’t really add anything to her career. Huh.

We know her standards are so ridiculously high, given her Oscar-worthy performances in Transformers and all, but this seems like a majorly Lindsay Lohan level misstep, no?

She’s already making dumb moves like badmouthing those robot movies, claiming that Michael Bay’s blockbusters had nothing to offer her as an actress.

Bay replied, “[Fox] has a lot of growing up to do … No one in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in ‘Transformers.’” Exactly.

If Megan Fox wants people to start taking her precious career so seriously, she could start by getting rid of that crappy Marilyn Monroe tattoo.

To her credit, we get that she might want to break out of the femme fatale typecasting. Sure. On the other hand, she’s done nothing to demonstrate that she actually has the acting chops she’s always moaning about. So there’s that. Anyone?

[From The Frisky]

I realize that Megan Fox is the new hot girl, and that she’s going to be getting more and more parts just based on that sheer fact. She’s got five films lined up in various stages of production, so we’re going to be seeing and hearing a lot more from Megan whether we like it or not. Considering Megan has a singular gift for saying moronic things, I suspect there’s no one in her management team giving her old-Hollywood style advice. So, I’ll step up. Megan, there are three things you should never confirm or deny: d-ck size, salaries, or what films you passed on. You’re welcome.

Angelina Joile is shown on 12/18/08. Megan Fox is shown on 6/25/09. Credit: WENN.com

Although Daniel Craig doesn’t seem eager to vacate 007’s shoes, there has been a rash of rumors about who the next James Bond will be. Apparently, there’s a growing cry for the next Bond to be black – maybe it’s The Obama Factor? Obama wouldn’t be the worst James Bond, actually, so that’s my first choice.

Will Smith is chiming in about Bond casting – he thinks he’s up against Jamie Foxx and Puff Daddy for the role. Lord, I hope he’s joking. Will thinks he has an edge, because he can “guarantee the box office”. He’s got a point – currently, Will is the reigning box office champion, but it doesn’t seem like the James Bond franchise is really hurting. The past two Daniel Craig-helmed Bond movies took in something like a billion dollars worldwide. Extra TV talking to both Will Smith and Jamie Foxx about the casting:

Actor Will Smith is dishing to “Extra” about who he thinks should play the first black James Bond on the big screen.

“Extra” caught up with the megastar last night, as he was presented with the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Humanitarian Award. When an “Extra” friend asked Will who would make a better black James Bond — himself, P. Diddy, or Jamie Foxx — Smith responded, “Puff probably lives the most like James Bond… Jamie Foxx got the swag for James Bond. He can sing too, so he can add a new element to Bond. Wooing the ladies… and I think I can guarantee the box office!”

Jamie Foxx wants fans to know that he is definitely in the running! He told our Mario Lopez that he wouldn’t mind donning the 007 tux. “Might be kind of cool. What would my drink be? Not vodka. I’d have to drink Hennessy or something like that. Little yak attack for James Biz-ond!”

Smith is no stranger to playing secret agents on the big screen. He played Agent J in two “Men in Black” blockbusters — and hopes to return for a third! “We’ve had a couple of meetings. We’re looking at it,” Smith says of a potential third round of the hit franchise.

“The team has committed, so we have to do it service with the creative part of it. Everyone is on board, so we will see what happens.”

“Extra” also caught up with Jada Pinkett-Smith at the ceremony, who brushed off rumors that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are planning on sending little Suri to Will and Jada’s new Los Angeles area school. Pinkett-Smith tells “Extra,” “No, Suri is not going to the school. That’s just rumors.”

[From Extra TV]

Perhaps this all started because Idris Elba, that cool drink of water from The Wire, The Office and that horrible-looking “what hath God wrought?” Beyonce film Obsessed, started talking about how he would make a pretty decent James Bond. Yes! Okay, President Obama is my first choice for Bond, Idris Elba is my second choice. Idris told the Guardian (quotes via The Press Association): “I can run around, flirt with ladies and drink. Plus I’m English… Who wouldn’t like to play Bond? Do I think it will happen? No, but I’ve got what it takes to do it.” Amen to that.

Last September, Matt Damon caused some controversy with statements in an AP interview in which he called Vice Presidential Republican candidate Sarah Palin “absurd… like a bad Disney movie.” Many people thought that Damon was being disrespectful at the time, although after Palin’s interviews with Katie Couric and Brian Williams came out there were more that agreed with him.

Damon, 38, gave an interview to his local newspaper the Miami Herald in which he typically strongly asserted his opinion on several topics. Damon is the star of the successful Bourne franchise, and had some choice words for his competition, James Bond:

”They could never make a James Bond movie like any of the Bourne films,” Damon says scornfully. “Because Bond is an imperialist, misogynist sociopath who goes around bedding women and swilling martinis and killing people. He’s repulsive.

“Steve [Soderbergh, who produced yet another of Damon's spy movies, Syriana] told me that years ago he was offered a Bond movie. He told them he’d do it if they gave him creative control. Absolutely not, they said. They have a formula, they stick to it, and it makes them a lot of money. They know what they’re doing, and they’re going to keep doing it.”

[From The Miami Herald via The Huffington Post]

I never really thought of the differences between Bond and Bourne because they’re both high-energy entertaining action movies to me. Bourne does have more of a connection to the deaths, though, and I remember Clive Owen’s character’s death in the first film as feeling particularly human and a little sad. There’s usually some emotion and meaning attached to deaths in the Bourne films and they’re not as slick or glossed over as the Bond series. In that respect you can see how Bond could be considered a sociopath. Bond is an old franchise and in a way is still stuck in old ways of thinking despite their successful efforts to revive it. Bourne doesn’t seem to kill without reason and he had a steady girlfriend for the first two films. To many movie-goers, these films are violent action movies and you don’t really consider the morality of the protagonists, you just root for Bond and Bourne while they do what they have to do.

In that same interview, Damon also called conservative NY Times columnist William Kristol an “idiot” and seemed to say that torture was warranted when civilian lives are at stake:

Instead, the small talk — if that’s the right phrase — ranged from which New York Times columnist is the worst (conservative William Kristol, according to Damon: ”He’s an idiot — he wrote that we should be grateful to George Bush because he won the Iraq war. We! Won! The! War!”) to the proper place of torture in American foreign policy.

”Look, the best line about torture I’ve heard came from [retired CIA officer turned war-on-terrorism critic] Milt Beardon,” Damon says. “He said, `If a guy knows where a dirty bomb is hidden that’s going to go off in a Marriott, put me in a room with him and I’ll find out. But don’t codify that. Just let me break the law.’

“Which I think is right. You can’t legalize torture. But anybody would do it in that situation. You’d do it to me in that situation; you’d pull out my fingernails if you thought I knew something like that.”

[From The Miami Herald]

Damon might want to temper his arguments if he doesn’t want to alienate people, but he doesn’t seem to particularly care. If this is how the guy is talking at 38, he’s sure going to be a cantankerous old dude.

Damon also told a story about how he tried to score tickets to the inauguration after campaigning for Barack Obama and was informed that bleacher seats would run him $25,000 a piece. This is similar to something Scarlett Johansson said on The Tonight Show about how she would probably have to donate $50k if she wanted to attend the inauguration.

Matt Damon is shown at the Clinton Global Initiative on 9/26/08. Credit: PRPhotos

Daniel Craig has made a few comments about who should be the next Bond after he’s finished his stint. It’s almost like he can’t wait to get out from under the career defining role and pass the burden on to someone else. Craig has said that the next Bond should be black, or even American. But after a recent red carpet meeting, he’s decided he knows the “perfect” next James Bond. Daniel and Prince Harry were introduced at the Royal premiere of the latest Bond flick and Craig seems to think there’s no better Bond replacement.

Daniel Craig has named the ‘perfect’ man to replace him as James Bond – Prince Harry.

The actor, who met the young Royal at the premiere of Quantum Of Solace, said: ‘I think Prince Harry would make a fantastic James Bond. He’s suave, and just a little bit dangerous.

‘Like Bond, he is unpredictable and would be a perfect Bond. He’s got everything it takes.’

[From Daily Mail]

For some reason, I can see this. Harry has developed the dashing Bond persona, the rebellious, but still posh and elite thing that made early Bond, but he also has that craving for danger that characterizes Craig’s Bond. If the increasingly more attractive of the two princes ever decided to go into showbiz, Bond would certainly be the way to go.

Alas, I have doubts the Queen would approve, so Prince Harry is just going to have to be a real life Bond-esque character. Maybe Craig can get a private audience with Liz and Chuck and convince them that Harry becoming Bond would be the best PR the Royal Family could hope for.

Daniel Craig and Satsuki Mitchell are shown in the header at the Quantum of Solace premiere in Sydney on 11/15/08. They are also shown at the Paris premiere on 10/30/08. Credit: Bauergriffin. Prince Harry is shown at HM Naval Base launching The Khumbu Challenge for wounded Service personnel on 11/4/08. Credit: WENN

Roger Moore is seldom chosen in any poll as the most cherished James Bond. While he certainly made a mark as the British agent, more people prefer Connery, Brosnan, or the current Daniel Craig. But Moore doesn’t regret trading in his TV career to become Bond. Roger Moore has written his memoirs about his experiences, the book is called “My Word is My Bond.”

Asked about his own legacy as an actor known mostly for playing Bond and in TV series such as “The Saint,” and “The Persuaders,” with Tony Curtis, Moore said: “I would love to be remembered as one of the greatest Lears or Hamlets. But as that’s not going to happen I’m quite happy I did Bond.”

His memoir is full of anecdotes about Hollywood and the stars he worked with such as Vivien Leigh, Mae West and Lana Turner. He also tells of his bust-up with Grace Jones during the filming of “A View to a Kill,” when he forcibly pulled the plug on her stereo and flung a chair against the wall because she was playing loud rock music.

[From Reuters]

Roger, who played the Bond character in a more fanciful, amusing way than the franchise has turned lately, laments the violent turn the character has taken. When he was playing the character, he was asked to be more sinister than he was comfortable with a few times, and while he tried to keep the character more charm than force, he was unsuccessful.

“I am happy to have done it, but I’m sad that it has turned so violent,” Moore said before “Quantum of Solace,” starring Daniel Craig as a darker Agent 007, opens in North America on Friday.

Moore, 81, recalled being appalled at the violence in “A View to a Kill,” the 1985 movie which was the last of the seven in which he played Bond. “That wasn’t Bond,” he said.

While making “The Man With the Golden Gun,” director Guy Hamilton wanted Bond to be tougher and had him threaten to break Maud Adams’ character’s arm to get information, he writes. “That sort of characterization didn’t sit well with me, but Guy was keen to make my Bond a little more ruthless.

“I suggested my Bond would have charmed the information out of her by bedding her first. My Bond was a lover and a giggler, but I went along with Guy,” the British actor wrote.

[From Reuters]

But Moore knows that the direction the character has taken is what the public wants these days. The new Daniel Craig Bond was more embraced as the character after one movie than Moore’s was after seven.

Moore said, “Daniel has done one Bond and he was in ‘Munich’ and … he’s done a lot of stuff, but his face, after one Bond film, that’s all he needs. He is Bond.”

And for now, I think most would agree, he is.

Roger Moore and his wife Roger Kristina Tholstrup are shown outside his appearance on the “Vivement Dimanche” talk show in Paris on 10/29/08. Credit: WENN

The latest, and some say greatest, James Bond almost wasn’t. Daniel Craig’s mother resisted her 16-year old’s wish to forego higher education to become an actor. When the choice between academics and drama school came along, Craig’s mother, Carol, tried to push him toward academics, and thankfully, did not get through.

Carol revealed: “It must have been hard for him. He knew I had my heart set on university for him. I knew he was clever enough to go, so giving up his A-Levels wasn’t an easy decision. I didn’t want this to be a kind of whim. I knew he had potential. I didn’t want to see it wasted.”

She added: “I knew in me heart he would make it, but as a mother you worry.”

[From 92.9 Entertainment]

Thank your Hollywood stars for mothers who let their children figure out their own way in life! Craig was moderately successful before becoming the sixth Bond but since taking on the role of the most famous British spy in history, Daniel has become a mega-star. Craig has taken the character in a completely different direction than the charming but campy Bond of legend and made him edgier and more intimidating.

In Quantum of Solace, which broke opening day records in the UK, the catch phrases, the “shaken and not stirred”, even the “Bond, James Bond” are gone, as is the constant bedding of any woman Bond comes across. But in its place is a more realistic portrayal of an assassin, not to mention the hottest blue eyes imaginable and one hell of a fine body in little blue swim trunks. Bond movies are only getting better from here, Daniel Craig is signed on to do at least three more.

Satsuki Mitchell and Daniel Craig are shown at the German premiere of “James Bond – Quantum Of Solace” in Berlin on 11/3/08. Credit: WENN

Amy Winehouse’s longtime friend and producer, Mark Ronson, told reporters that she was in no shape to record the soundtrack for the upcoming James Bond film Quantum of Solace. However Winehouse is claiming that she’s got enough material – good material – to fill up the entire soundtrack. But 007 film bosses still aren’t sure if they want her tunes.

Fiery Amy Winehouse last night told James Bond film bosses to “put up or shut up”. She has been shaken and stirred by claims she has abandoned plans to record the theme tune for new 007 blockbuster Quantum Of Solace. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sunday, the troubled singer said she was delighted with the result of her recording efforts – believed to be without top producer Mark Ronson. And, barely disguising her annoyance at 007’s movie bosses, she said it was now “up to them” if they want the sure-fire hit songs or not.

It is also believed Bond bosses fear using her music in case it detracts from the movie, even though star Daniel Craig recently said: “It would be amazing if she could.” Amy, 24, whose family say is now on the road to recovery, said: “I’ve done loads of Bond songs, there are loads of good ones I’m really happy with. I don’t know what is wrong with them or what the problem is, to be honest. It’s there, ready and done, and it’s up to them if they want it or not.”

Pals say the main track up for consideration is a big Shirley Bassey 60s-type number. Record company bosses are pleased with the “surefire hit”. But Bond chiefs are still dithering. And a source said: “It’s at a delicate stage. Amy is still seen as damaged goods – she will have to prove she’s on the road to recovery before she’s signed up.”

[From the Daily Star]

Several media outlets are reporting that Beyonce has already been tapped to replace Winehouse as the film’s songstress. Though frankly I think her music could detract from the film much more than Amy’s.

I find it curious that the “Bond chiefs” are saying Amy would have to “prove she’s on the road to recovery” to sing the film’s songs. It’d be one thing if they had yet to be recorded, and thus studio bosses were afraid she couldn’t follow through. But Winehouse is claiming they’re already done. So unless the studio doesn’t like the music, I can’t see what the problem is.

I guess it’s possible the studio might want Winehouse to perform a few songs from the soundtrack to promote the film. That could be problematic. Either way, it could only help Amy to be on the “road to recovery” as they put it. She sounds pretty annoyed with them, and it sounds like it’s quite likely her songs will never see the light of day… or the darkness of a movie theater.

Here’s Amy, answering her door to sign autographs barefoot and wearing only a bra on Friday. Images thanks to WENN.