Craig to do Bond 25 before Purity, /Film says

Daniel Craig in 2012 during filming of Skyfall.

Showtime’s CEO said Daniel Craig will play James Bond again before doing the limited series Purity for the pay channel, /Film reported.

“He’s doing Bond first,” /Film quoted David Nevins, Showtime’s president and CEO, as saying. “I can’t say anything about what I know or don’t know about Bond. That’s not my area.”

Purity is a 20-episode series based on the Jonathan Franzen novel that originally was supposed to be produced this year.

Last month, Eon Productions announced Bond 25 would be released in the U.S. in November 2019. A distributor for the movie hasn’t been announced yet.

Here’s an excerpt from the /Film story.

The schedule for Bond 25 could mean that Craig is not available to shoot Purity until 2019. “It’s possible,” Nevins said.

Craig is still committed to Purity, according to Nevins. “I think so, yeah,” Nevins assured.

/Film also quoted Nevins as saying Craig is “in most episodes” of Purity.

UPDATE (9 p.m. New York time): The Hollywood Reporter has a story with the same quotes. THR specifies Nevin made his comments at the Television Critics Association’s summer tour. At the end of the story, the entertainment news outlet says Craig “has yet to officially sign on for Bond 25.”

007 film universe rumor and entertainment websites

Image for the official James Bond feed on Twitter

It has been almost a week, but entertainment news websites are still following up on the rumor that Eon Productions wants a 007 film universe.

There hasn’t been anything new, but the rumor is making the rounds.

Here’s how it breaks down. The followups are not a comprehensive list. But this post does contain a shoutout to the original source and a 007 fan account on Twitter that picked up on it.

June 23: Jeff Sneider, editor-in-chief of The Tracking Board website, says in a tweet that, “I’ve heard the Broccolis have caught Universe Fever and would love to explore other corners of the Bond franchise…simultaneously.”

June 24: @Bond25Film on Twitter does a “quote tweet,” where you can see Sneider’s original tweet. @Bond25Film says (understandably) to take “this with a huge pinch of salt.”

June 24: In full disclosure, @Bond25Film’s “quote tweet” was the first time this blog heard of Sneider’s original tweet. After tracking the original tweet down, the blog did a post the same day plus a June 25 follow-up about questions raised by the rumor.

June 26: Phil Nobile Jr., a writer for Birth. Movies. Death. and a Bond fan, comes out with a post noting the Sneider rumor.

“I’m highly skeptical that this will come to pass, but as a fan of the franchise with no real Bond 25 news to report, I humbly offer these suggestions for opening up the Bondverse,” Nobile writes. His ideas include a prequel for M (the Judi Dench version).

June 28: The Express, in a story with the headline “James Bond SHOCK,” weighs in.

June 28: Esquire also comments on the rumor. “Do We…do we want this?” reads a secondary headline.

June 28: The Playlist, while citing Jeff Sneider, also says, Eon’s Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson “might have a contemporary way to keep that money tap open.”

June 29: The Independent, again citing Jeff Sneider, says, “It seems like there’s no franchise on the planet that’s immune from the cinematic universe fever.”

June 29: Add /Film to the list. The site adds this observation: “Also the truth: a James Bond cinematic universe would completely fit in with the series’ modus operandi of borrowing whatever is cool, hip, or popular and making it its own.”

Armie Hammer gives an update on U.N.C.L.E. sequel effort

Armie Hammer in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Armie Hammer, in an interview with the Uproxx website, included an update about efforts to try to get a Man From U.N.C.L.E. sequel off the ground.

Previously, the actor told the /Film website he had convinced Lionel Wigram, co-writer and co-producer of the 2015 movie, to start work on a script for a sequel.

In the Uproxx story, Hammer was asked about comments from U.N.C.L.E. director Guy Ritchie that he didn’t know much about it. This excerpt picks up from there with Hammer asking the interviewer a question. Interviewer comments are in boldface.

 

Was this before King Arthur premiere or after the King Arthur premiere?

Before.

Okay, because he came into town for the premiere and we all had dinner: Guy, Lionel, myself, and Lynn Harris, who was one of the executives on the movie. And we all had dinner together and that’s when I told them. I was like, “So, guys.” So, yes, it is completely conceivable that he didn’t know. After you interviewed him, probably about a week after that, sat down and was like, “So here’s the deal. We’re doing this.”

He seemed very happy people were discovering it.

Yeah, people bring it up quite a bit and it just makes me really happy for Guy and it makes me really happy for Lionel and for Henry and for myself. You know, we put a lot of work into it and we really enjoyed making it, so the fact that people enjoyed watching it is a lot of fun. And if people enjoyed watching enough to sort of warrant making another one, I would be there. You know, I loved working with those guys. I loved working on that project. I’d love to do another one.

Again, the odds would seem to be against an U.N.C.L.E. sequel. The 2015 movie generated less than $110 million in global box office.

Then again, at times, the odds were against the original movie being made. It had been in development at Warner Bros. for more than 20 years.

Bond 23’s cast is coming together — or is it?

Supposedly, Bond 23’s casting is coming together. But if you to check out the source of this information, prepare to be a little frustrated.

A Web site called ScreenCrave says Javier Bardem and Ralph Finnes are definitely joining Bond 23’s cast. However, THE POST ON SCREENCRAVE doesn’t have any original reporting. Instead, it cites another Web site called A.V. Club.

However, THE A.V. CLUB POST doesn’t have any original reporting, either. Instead, it cites a Web site called /Film.

Well, as you have probably guessed by now, THE /FILM POST has no original reporting, either. Instead, it cites a story in the U.K. newspaper Daily Mail.

Now, THE DAILY MAIL STORY does claim to be in the know. The newspaper, though, doesn’t bother to tell the reader how it obtained the information. Here’s an excerpt:

Miss Moneypenny, 007’s tart-tongued, flirtatious foil, is returning to the James Bond movies in the shape of Naomie Harris.
(snip)
The actress is poised to appear alongside Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes and Judi Dench when filming begins later this year.

Not a hint whether the Daily Mail got this informtion from Eon Productions, which will produce Bond 23, or from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or Sony Corp.’s Columbia Pictures, which are co-financing it. No hint whether it came from anyone associated with the actors. In short, you got to take it on faith.

Maybe it will all come to pass. But so far, there’s been more pontificating than hard reporting.

UPDATE: The Daily Mail story has been updated to include this tidbit at the end:

A spokeswoman for Eon said that Naomie had met with producers but stressed it had not been confirmed she would be in the film.

It might help if the Daily Mail actually named the spokeswoman involved. Then again, if transparency isn’t important to the Daily Mail, why start now?