“Dune” and “Prisoners” filmmaker Denis Villeneuve won’t even begin searching for a new actor to play James Bond until well into next year.
Deadline reports that the search won’t begin until he completes production on “Dune: Part Three” which began filming in July and is expected to shoot throughout the rest of this year.
In addition, their sources say he and his collaborators are seeking a “fresh face” male actor for the role and one who is required to hail from the British isles.
That rules out quite a few names mentioned for the role. It’s also said that ideally the plan is to cast ‘an unknown,’ potentially in their late twenties or early thirties.
A lot however will depend on the story and how they plan to approach the character this time out. Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders,” “SAS: Rogue Heroes”) is penning the script and the trade’s sources suggest one possibility is he may go back to Bond’s beginnings as a Royal Navy Commander, the period before he’s recruited by MI6.
While even they report acknowledges things could change, one thing that is certain is that the new film is a “a new Bond, a new start, a fresh everything”.
David Heyman and Amy Pascal produce the film which isn’t expected to go into production until 2027 and release in 2028.
