Actor Dave Bautista caused a stir on Instagram this week. He posted a photo of himself, apparently with a SPECTRE logo tattoo on his middle finger.
Naturally, fans asked whether this was “confirmation” that he’ll be back for Bond 25 after playing henchman Hinx in SPECTRE.
Welcome to the Bond 25 parade of bright, shiny objects.
Bond 25, at the moment, is a movie without a way to actually get to theaters (i.e. no distributor). There are options, of course, but none has actually been taken.
Bond 25’s home studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, may be trying to sell itself. If that’s the case, unless a sale is executed soon, it might have an impact on Bond 25.
Bond 25’s financing may not be settled until there’s a distributor. Sony Pictures, under its most recent deal to distribute Skyfall and SPECTRE, kicked in half of the production budget. You can only afford to shoot what you have to spend.
Image of Dave Bautista ‘s Instagram post.
But, of course, those kind of issues are no fun. Hence, there are bright, shiny objects to distract everyone from the mundane. The Bautista post may be the latest example.
A cynical view? Not really. Consider:
–Actor Jeffrey Wright, on April 9, 2017, posted a still of himself as Felix Leiter in Quantum of Solace. “Eh, who’s that brother?” read the caption.
Based on that meager evidence, The Independent did an entire story with the headline “Bond 25: Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright teases his return as Felix Leiter.”
The Screen Rant website also bit, with a post titled, “Bond 25: Jeffrey Wright Teases His Return to the Franchise.
This was an entire month after the Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye reported that veteran 007 scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade had been hired to write the Bond 25 script. But, when the fact becomes legend, print the legend as the old saying goes.
–And let us not forget how Eon Productions and MGM each announced on July 24, 2017, that Bond 25 would have a U.S. release date of Nov. 8, 2019. At the time, there was no distributor but that appeared to be a mere formality. Fan countdown clocks went online.
Of course, there’s still no distributor all this time later.
At some point, Bond 25 will come out. But this blog would prefer solid news, not bright, shiny objects.
Filed under: James Bond Films | Tagged: Baz Bamigboye, Bond 25, Dave Bautista, Jeffrey Wright, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Skyfall, Sony Pictures, SPECTRE |
The Spy Command 
Maybe Eon Productions Jumped ahead of Themselves when publicizing a Release Date, with out a Distributor and Director. However, Dave Bautista and Jeffrey Wright Might have Private Confirmations for they’re Return Characters to the Franchise. it would be Logical and Good to see Dave Bautista return as ”Hinx’ after All. we never really saw him Die in ”SPECTRE” ?
@Baldwin Collins
I hope that was the last of Hinx. He was little more than glowering, well dressed iteration of Jaws. The Craig era has produced one great villain but the henchmen still aren’t up to snuff.
I would love for Dave Bautista to return as Hinx in the next James Bond 007 movie. Man, he kicked Daniel Craig arse good. It was the highlight of the whole movie for me. They need to bring back Jeffrey Wright as “Felix” too, if he is not too busy with Westworld. Can you see him in a scene with Naomie Harris?
//Can you see him (Jeffrey Wright) in a scene with Naomie Harris?”
John Logan could. One of his SPECTRE drafts had Leiter calling Moneypenny “a foxy lady.”
[…] April, there was a similar reaction, when Dave Bautista put out an Instagram post of himself with a SPECTRE tattoo on his finger where a SPECTRE ring should be. Naturally, there was […]
[…] Hinx, the lead henchman in SPECTRE. At this point, he might as well be. Remember, he appeared to be lobbying for that to […]