Annette Bening to star in a non-007 film for Broccoli

Annette Bening

Annette Bening will star in a non-007 movie for producer Barbara Broccoli, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, VARIETY REPORTED.

Here’s an excerpt:

Shooting will begin in the U.K. on June 27 with Paul McGuigan (“Sherlock”) directing. The production will take place at Pinewood Studios and on location in London and Liverpool.

The story is based on the memoir by British actor Peter Turner and follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner and the eccentric Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover grows into a deeper relationship.

Broccoli, of late, has been accelerating her non-James Bond projects. In February, it was announced Eon Productions formed a “creative alliance” with Cove Pictures to develop television projects.

Meanwhile, Bond 25 can’t really proceed until there’s a studio to release it. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2010, doesn’t have the resources to release a movie. Sony Pictures has released the last four 007 films but its contract expired with SPECTRE.

A sampling of mirth and merriment with 007 on Google

Image for the official James Bond feed on Twitter

One of the habits this blog has is typing “news about James Bond” into Google to make sure we haven’t missed anything. Of late, there’s nothing to *really miss* but that doesn’t stop stories from being cranked out.

On Friday afternoon, for example, there are a number of stories about a number of actors who don’t know very much about the future of the 007 franchise. Here’s a sampling of the mirth and merriment. We don’t actually encourage to click on the links but for those who can’t help themselves, you can check these items out further.

Naomie Harris in the dark about James Bond (XPOSE.ie): The actress, who played Moneypenny in Skyfall and SPECTRE, doesn’t know if Daniel Craig is going to return to the 007 role or not. Turns out the story is actually a summary of The Evening Standard. But it rocketed to the top of our Google search anyway.

Damian Lewis has heard nothing about James Bond role (Guelph Mercury Tribune): The actor, 44, “had no contact with anyone about the possibility of him taking on the role of James Bond.” Once upon a time, that would have meant no story. Oh well…

Has Tom Hiddleston ruled himself out of playing James Bond (Metro): Of course, you’d think someone would actually have to make you an offer first, or even inquired about your availability. Metro’s story is a summary of a talk show appearance but declares Hiddleston has “practically ruled himself out.” Metro calls this, “Tragic.”

Ewan McGregor doesn’t understand why an actor would want to play James Bond (Metro again): The headline pretty says it all.

There were  7.42 million items in all in the search.