More Details On Rumoured Bond 20 Vehicle

'Jay' alerts us in the Bond 20 Forums to a report from the Western Daily Press dated December 4 that makes a brief mention of some rumours that have been reaccuring over the past month or so. I must warn you that potential spoilers do apply so you'll have to highlight parts of the report to read it. WebTV users, and other users incapable of highlight, view the printer friendly version above.

Western Daily Press 04/12/2001 – By Janet Hughes

DOWN-to-earth farmers are being urged to become star-struck to help turn parts of the Wye Valley into a mini Hollywood.

For consultants believe turning their yards, barns and fields into film sets could provide farmers with vital income and give the tourism industry a much needed boost.

Now a major initiative is underway to sell the stunning scenery in the area of outstanding natural beauty to movie moguls from all over the world.

And farmers have been asked to get the scheme underway by using their knowledge of the local landscapes to build a database of unusual and secret locations.

Monmouthshire county council has advertised for farmers to come forward with any landscapes that may be of interest to the scouts, particularly oddities or places off the beaten track which have survived the march of the 21st century intact.

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

Only recently the Wye narrowly missed out as a location for the latest James Bond movie starring Pierce Brosnan because of technical difficulties over staging the hovercraft scenes on the river.

News of a hovercraft in Bond 20 has continued to surface in the media since CommanderBond.Net first reported the possibility of it being used as a vehicle in Bond 20 in early November. Now it seems that the media has managed to get hold of where that hovercraft chase scene will take place, on a river. With all the rumours of a major ice involvement for Bond 20 I had personally presumed that a hovercraft chase sequence would take place on snow, as I’m sure that many other people had.

A big thank you to 'Jay' for sending in that news to us. If you'd like to discuss it any further drop into the Bond 20 Forums and check out this thread which has been discussing this Bond 20 vehicle for some time now.

Exclusive: Bond 20 Casting News Surfaces

'Spacebabe' has done the fantastic job of sending us this audition notice for James Bond 20. This information comes from 'CastCall', a UK based audition information source. I must warn you that the casting information does contain possible spoilers, so you'll have to highlight it to read it. WebTV users, and other users incapable of highlight, view the printer friendly version above.

Cast Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

Debbie McWilliams Casting

Casting : Bond Movie
Dates : Shoot from end January
Require:

Henchman – a REALLY BIG, MENACING, INTIMIDATING, FRIGHTENING male – no
wimps, MUST FULLY COMPLY with the description – you all know what Bond
henchmen are like – well they want more! – more scary, more menacing.

Still also accepting suggestions for Korean actors & actresses all
(adult) ages

With EON Productions confirmation yesterday that Halle Berry was indeed being

considered as the next Bond girl new light was thrown on recent news out of

Korea suggesting a major Korean involvement in Bond 20, and also the return of Wai Lin to the Bond film.

With this audition notice there is now no reason to doubt that the Korean news was false. It would seem apparent that it was an accidental

leak from within the production team.

But we now know that Bond 20 will feature a Korean henchman, that obviously hasn’t been cast yet though no doubt other people are being

considered. We also have confirmation that Korean actors are required, possibly just extra roles but that’s open to speculation.

So what does this lead to? Well it seems that the longer lasting Bond actors (ie Connery and Moore) all atleast one film with Asian

connections. For Sean Connery it was ‘You Only Live Twice’ and for Roger Moore it was ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’. Until now most people

had presumed that Pierce Brosnan’s Asian film was ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, not it seems apparent that that is not so. With filming loction

rumours indicating filming in South Korea, a Korean henchman and Korean actors (and possibly extras) Bond 20 is going to the Pierce Brosnan’s

major Asian film.

There's some very big news there. Please totter over to the Bond 20 Forums and discuss it in this thread which SpaceBabe created. And a big thank you to Spacebabe for sending the audition notice into us! It's greatly appreciated. See you in the forums!

Naomi Westerman Has Auditioned For Bond 20

In recent news we reported that UK-based actress Naomi Westerman had auditioned for a role in Bond 20. After contacting her team we today have a confirmation of this news.

A member of her team has told us that Ms Westerman did audition for Bond 20, however, no announcement has been made yet.

It's short but this is the only place you'll find it, and you deserve to know.

EON Confirm Halle Berry In Casting Race

The French James Bond Club today reported that EON Productions have confirmed that Halle Berry is in negotiations to appear in Bond 20 as the main Bond Girl. Berry is currently unsigned as her contract is still in negotiations.

This confirmation has thrown credibility on a recent report out of Korea. The report was the first to mention that Halle Berry was being cast in Bond 20. It also sighted more information about the possible return of Michelle Yeoh, who first appeared in Tomorrow Never Dies, and the casting of other actors.

Speculation in the Bond 20 Forums has always pointed towards the report being true, and an accidental leak from the division of EON Productions currently in Korea.

You can discuss Hally Berry's casting in the Bond 20 Forums and in particular this thread which was started about Berry and the Korean news. See you there!

Finally, a big thank you to 'Level007' for alerting us to the news.

New Bond 20 Filming Locations Rumoured

A short while back Coming Attractions posted this report on filming locations for Bond 20;

A scooper who claims to have a friend working on the production tips us off with the shooting locations for Bond 20. According to the scooper’s friend, the picture will start shooting the second week of January (that’s a known fact) and continue lensing until mid-May. The production will film in Spain, Iceland and England’s most western county, Cornwall.

While we've heard of the Spain and Iceland locations before, Cornwall is a completely new location. However, the disappearance of Korea as a filming location raises questions about the report. Perhaps tghe scooper's friend doesn't have access to all the relevant information?

And today's Dark Horizon's update has reported;

The makers of the new James Bond movie have been scouting film locations in the UK including a place in London’s South West known as Alice Holt Forest. ‘Scribbler’ says “Alice Holt forest is owned by the Forestry Commission, and the location was used in ‘Gladiator’. Looks like that talk of them developing a hovercraft for a chase scene is true because they want to film on a lake at the forest for a scene in which a hovercraft will leap over a barrier. Apparently English Nature are still considering the request as the lake is a site of Special Scientific Interest”. Meantime buxom model Sophie Dahl is tipped to be joining the adventure, whilst Emily Mortimer briefly talked the next 007 film at a recent charity event for “The 51st State”: “I did an embarassing audition. I have nightmares every night about how bad it was”. Thanks to ‘James’.

Well the Hovercraft news which we revealed some weeks ago now has resurfaced, and in grand style. It's interesting to note the similarities between the reports; that EON Productions are looking to film some external scenes for Bond 20 in the United Kingdom.

Personally, I'd ignore the Sophie Dall rumour. Some months ago she placed herself as a rumour saying she wished to play a Bond girl in an upcoming Bond film, but not Bond 20 specifically. And it's great to see that Emily Mortimer tried out for the role, a great bit of trivia there for future use.

Look out for more Bond 20 news soon! And a big thanks to 'Beamer' for tipping me off to the news. If you'd like to discuss it, check out the Bond 20 Forums.

Actress Naomi Westerman Up For Role

British-based actress Naomi Westerman is up for a role in Bond 20, according to an interview with her in Maxim Magazine.

As a movie star, who would be your ideal leading man?

Clive Robertson. (Ben, Sunset Beach). I’d love to work with him.
He’s very sexy, he’s just a beautiful man. He’s extremely talented too. And that’s the sexiest thing, right?

You think? Most girls go for the car.

Well, I have a car.
But he is talented. He’s going to win an Oscar one day.
He’s going to win an Oscar and be James Bond (laughs).

And the rumours that you yourself are to be a Bond girl?

Oh, I can’t answer that, I don’t like to talk about jobs until everything is signed and sealed. I certainly wouldn’t mind! I’ve always loved James Bond.

So does that mean she's up for a role in Bond 20? It certainly wouldn't be for the leading Bond Girl. However, Westerman could be up for a smaller role. Perhaps a role similair to the size of Dr Warmflash in 'The World Is Not Enough'.

While her website contains no definite answers as to her involvement with Bond 20 in the News section there is a small note that Naomi is on holiday at the moment and will then travel to Los Angeles to audition for various roles. After this "Naomi is provisionally planning to return to the UK in mid January to start filming her next movie." While no mention is made of what her next movie actually is, January is also the time that Bond 20 starts filming. This could mearly be a coincidence. Also mentioned in the Trivia page is the news that Naomi "turned down a 6 month contract with popular BBC soap opera Doctors to audition for the next James Bond movie."

Also of note on her website is the information directly about Naomi. One of her hobbies for instance is Ballet, past rumours about actresses in Bond 20 have cited that they are talented in this area. One of her favourite sports is also kickboxing. But of most interest, one of her favourite acros is Pierce Brosnan, amongst her favourite actresses are Diana Rigg and Sophie Marceau, her favourite film is Dr No, her favourite author is Ian Fleming and finally two of her favourite books are Dr No and Casino Royale. It sounds like Naomi has a healthy Bond addiction.

I've tried to get in contact with Naomi, I'll let you know more as it comes to me. Until then visit the Bond 20 Forums if you'd like to discuss this or anything else related to Bond 20!

Finally, a big thank you to 'Spacebabe' for sending the news my way!

Deleted Scene: Cutting The Balcony Ropes

On seeing Tomorrow Never Dies for the second time I asked myself several times how James Bond and Wai Lin managed to loosen the ropes supporting the building banner of Elliot Carver in order to use it in the fashion of an abseil.

The answer comes to us from the insert in the Tomorrow Never Dies Soundtrack (the original release, not the full score). One of the promotional pictures provided shows Wai Lin with meat-cleaver-like knife hacking at one of the large ropes.

So where does this knife come from?

The reason for the knifes appearance occurs around 76:38 minutes into the movie. This is the scene where Bond and Lin jump through the window, away from Carver’s men, and onto the balcony. Finally, they hide behind an electrical switchboard.

Close to ten seconds later (76:46) Bond reaches out with his right hand and grabs a black toolbox. Contained in this toolbox is the infamous knife.

A closer look at the toolbox reveals the handle of the knife.

Despite presumably removing Bond reaching for the knife him cutting part of the rope then passing the knife to Lin and her then cutting another part of the rope the editors left in two tiny glimpses of the knife.

The first glimpse shows the knife in the hands of Wai Lin. It appears that she's cutten the rope around Bond's wrist. Look carefully under her chin, at this angle it's extremely hard to make out.

The second glimpse is a lot more obvious. If you forward the movie to 76:52 you’ll notice that Bond turns to look to his left (the right of your TV screen). Look carefully in his left hand, which comes up more or less in the centre of the screen. And there it is, the infamous knife that never obviously made the final cut of the film. Play the film at normal pace and you’ll miss it!

Now a few moments later Bond tugs on the rope and at approximately 76:55 Bond and Lin jump over the edge of the building.

It seems puzzling as to why the use of the knife was delete, but Bond reaching for the toolbox was not. Either way it's now a well documented part of Bond history.

Finally, I must say a big thank you to Christoph from 007-Web http://www.007-web.de/ for supplying me with the screen captures from Tomorrow Never Dies. Look out for more deleted scenes soon!

Variety Reports Halle Berry May Join Cast

Usually know for accurate news Variety have reported that Halle Berry is poised to star opposite Pierce Brosnan in Bond 20.

NEW YORK (Variety) – Halle Berry is poised to star alongside Pierce Brosnan as the femme fatale in the next James Bond film, which is fast mobilizing for a Jan. 14 start at Pinewood Studios in Britain. New Zealander Lee Tamahori is directing.

Most interesting in the report is the title, Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)BUSY BERRY MAY BOND AS VILLAIN. Hot on the heels of Elektra King will we see another female villain in Bond 20? Or is Berry perhaps gunning for a role such as Xenia Onatopp? The possibilities seem endless.

Another report which has recently appeared on Variety indicates that Berry may be forced to pull out of Bond 20 due to scheduling conflicts with 'X-Men 2'.

PeopleNews, who aren't anywhere as respectable a source as Variety, have also reported that "actress Halle Berry has been confirmed to appear" in Bond 20. Thanks to 'MfG' from 'Hallalla´s Bondseiten' for sending that news in!

We'll have more news as it breaks. Until then visit the Bond 20 Forums where this discussion is ongoing about Berry and other recent casting news.

Bond To Go Ahead Despite Equity Strikes

Variety have reported that filming of Bond 20 will go ahead despite the upcoming actors Equity strike in the United Kingdom.

The UK actors union Equity will thankfully allow filming work to go ahead on Bond 20 after a special deal struck with EON Productions. Details of the deal have not been disclosed. However, details aren't important. What's important is that we all get to see Bond 20 on the silver screen in 2002.

The strike in the UK will take place on Decmber 1 as the Equity want to renegotiate a deal which gives actors a flat fee in advance when their films are shown on television or sold for home viewing on video or DVD.

A spokesman for Equity told Variety that members are in favour of resolving the conflict using something similar to the EON deal.

How The Cast And Plot Came To Light?

Assuming that yesterdays news about the cast and plot of Bond is true, then how did it come to light without a proper press release? Bond 20 Forums user Zencat theorises as to why;

I can image a scenario like this. Eon’s Korean based PR people are eager to promote the news of Bond 20 shooting in their country and Korean actors being used, etc. They’re privy to choice plot details and the news of the Halle Berry casting. But Eon tells them to hold back on all news until the “official” press release date of Nov. 22. Nov. 22 comes…and Eon (for whatever reason) pulls the news at the last minute. But no one thought to call the Koreans! Hence, major leak.

For anyone confused by the refence of November 22, it was long considered that EON and MGM would issue a press release about Bond 20 with plot and casting details. With that in mind, as Zencat sees it, the Korean based PR team make their announcement on November 22 unaware that the announcement has been postedponed.

Have another theory? Or would you like to discuss the news. Check out this thread in the Bond 20 Forums to do so.