The cast for the upcoming 25th James Bond film has been announced.
During a live event in Jamaica, near the villa where author Ian Flemming penned the original James Bond books, director Cary Joji Fukunaga announced which of the franchise’s cast would be back for the next instalment, as well as a few new cast addition.
Joining Daniel Craig once again will be Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Ralph Fiennes as Moneypenny, Q and M, respectively, alongside Léa Seydoux and Jeffrey Wright.
As was heavily rumoured, recent Oscar winner Rami Malek has now been confirmed to be joining the film as a new villain.
Teasing what was in store in a pre-recorded video message, he said: “I’m very much looking forward to joining the whole cast and crew very soon. And I promise you all I’ll be making sure Mr Bond doesn’t have an easy time of it in this, his 25th outing.”
Among the other newcomers to the franchise are Captain Marvel’s Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen and Dali Benssalah.
Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge has also been confirmed to be on the writing team, along with Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Scott Z. Burns.
Sadly, 007 producer Barbara Broccoli revealed they won’t be confirming the name of the film for the time being, meaning it will continue to be referred to as Bond 25.
However, we did learn that the story begins during a bit of downtime for James Bond, who is enjoying himself in Jamaica at the beginning of the story, with the action later taking him to Norway and Italy.
While Danny Boyle was initially hired as the director of the new film, it was announced three months later that he’d left the project due to “creative differences”.
Instead, it will be overseen by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who previously directed Beasts Of No Nation and the miniseries Maniac for Netflix.
It was already confirmed that Bond 25 would be Daniel Craig’s final outing as the titular secret agent, having previously appeared in Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre.
Daniel’s future with the franchise had been in doubt ever since Spectre wrapped up filming, and the actor infamously claimed he’d rather “slash his wrists” than play 007 again.
Addressing these quotes during an interview with Stephen Colbert, Daniel admitted he “needed a break” before he committed himself to the role again, adding: “There’s no point in making excuses about it. It was two days after I finished shooting the last movie.
“Instead of saying something with style and grace, I gave a really stupid answer.”
It’s not yet known who will succeed Daniel in the role of James Bond, with recent rumours suggesting that the part could go to Bodyguard star Richard Madden.
And, of course, the rumour that Idris Elba could be about to be cast as James Bond refuses to die (particularly as the man himself seems to be having a good time trolling everyone).
Bond 25 will hit UK cinemas on 8 April 2020.