Catherine Zeta Jones has told a trade magazine that the rumours of her playing the next Bond girl are untrue.
During the inteview, Caterine Zeta Jones denied the rumour, leaving the role of Bond’s girl open.
She said:
So, who is going to be Bond’s girl now? Let the rumours begin!
Look’s like Minnie Driver might have some competition for Bond 20. In an interview with Hong Kong’s Apple Daily former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh, who played agent Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies, has revealed that Pierce Brosnan is very keen to get her back for the next Bond film. This is more than a simple wish for Brosnan though, Yeoh’s agent is apparently already conducting negotiations with EON about such an arrangement. If Yeoh does return she won’t be the first Bond girl, but seemingly she will return to the same role which may leave her only a small role in Bond 20.
Happy New Year to begin with, from all the Bond 20 Staff.
The IMDB have now listed Bond 20 as a working project here. With some pushing from me (lot’s of e-mails) they removed the title as being “Beyond The Ice” and have taken it back to Bond 20. Despite this there is something interesting on their page, a working title, and no it’s not Beyond The Ice. It is in fact “The Infection of the Ice”. Sound interesting? You bet!!
Speaking of odd Bond rumours, the latest casting one has hit some major outlets like “Good Day LA” on FOX which are reporting Matthew Perry is in negotiations to play the role once Brosnan leaves.
Also you may be interested to know that EON have denied Kevin Spacey’s involvement in Bond 20. Thanks to everyone who sent in that info :), also sorry for listing your names but there are 18 of you :).
Enjoy 2001!
Trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Pierce Brosnan and Director Renny Harlin, of “Cliffhanger” fame, will adapt Ray Bradbury’s 1952 famous dinosaur short story “A Sound of Thunder” for the big screen.
The pair are now in final talks to star in & direct the feature about “a game hunter who goes on a time-traveling safari to hunt dinosaurs in the prehistoric era. When confronted by a tyrannosaurus, he loses his nerve, stumbles off the appointed path and inadvertently changes history”.
Production on the Franchise Pictures-produced movie aims to begin as early as first quarter next year in order to wrap filming up before the actors strike. Rumours of Sly Stallone’s involvement in the project last week now seem unlikely.
Reuters has reported that Agent Wai Lin, better known as actress Michelle Yeoh, is being courted to star in the two sequels of ‘The Matrix’ which Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures will start shooting next year.
While the storyline of the sequels is a closely guarded secret, sources said the role she’s in talks for is the same one that fellow Hong Kong tailkicking import Jet Li once seemed destined to play.
After her role in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” it seems that Michelle Yeoh is going to be one of the Bond girls who stays around for a long long time.
EON have posted on JamesBond.com that the rumours of Kevin Spacey being the next Bond Villain and “Beyond the Ice” being the title for Bond 20, as false. They say:
However, they have not said that the rumour about Catherine Zeta Jones is false, so is it true?? The rumours are still spreading, but what ones do we believe??
We now have a better link for that Kevin Spacey article we posted a few days ago. ‘Jersey77’ sent in this link so we much thank him. Go here for a full English article on Popcorn.
On the same topic David sent in this excellent speculation on the whole thing. We rarely post these but David’s had some very good points on it. It’s well worth the read as you’ll learn some Bond tidbits that you may not have known, plus you’ll get another great opinion on recent Bond 20 News:
I’d like to say something about the most recent report on Bond 20. I’d be very skeptical about the ‘confirmation’ of both Spacey as the villain and of Brosnan hanging it up after four. You remember the ‘confirmations’ of Judi Dench leaving the series and Robbie Williams performing the theme song. You’re doing the right thing in not treating these reports as facts. Not only that, but lately, the actors who have been sought out from the beginning have been the ones to make it into the films (rumors of Robert Carlyle as a villain were around for a long time before TWINE went into production. In fact, that was the very first rumor I heard about the picture). Also, on Brosnan’s retirement from the role, there’s something important to consider. In 1980, after completing Moonraker, Roger Moore announced his retirement from the role. He ended up doing three more! So even with all the doomsayers who think Brosnan is on his way out, it’s still likely that he’ll return. I certainly don’t think EON will let him go this easily, not after he’s made $1 billion for them with these three pictures. Brosnan himself is also not firmly committed to leaving; he says he’s “just growing into the role”.
I personally would like to see him do five total. After that, most actors wear out their welcome, and the material becomes weak (Diamonds are Forever, Octopussy, A View to a Kill). Five seems to me to be the greatest number any actor can do and still have them all be of decent quality. First one is the debut, which makes a decent amount of money. Second is a lot like the first in format. For the third we always see new writers, a different director than the first two, and a returning production designer, so it’s very different and usually revered as the actor’s best. Fourth is larger than life (Thunderball, Moonraker) and usually the most profitable. Fifth is still good, but a little less special than some of the others. Six is convoluted, tacky, poorly edited and silly. Don’t start on seven.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and good job on handling the reports. Let’s hope Bond 20 will be as big as the other ‘big fours’ (disturbing, isn’t it, how I’ve spent this much time thinking about this?)
David
David has a lot of good points in there, I like his idea of Brosnan only doing five films, however, personally I would like to see the quality of Brosnan’s fifth as to decided a sixth or a seventh as Brosnan has a totally different style to all the other Bond’s.
Interesting news today about Catherine Zeta Jones. However, I can’t help think that these are false. This report comes from the “DPA”, which is similair to the “German Press Agency” or “Reuters”.
London (DPA) – Catherine Zeta Jones (31), actress and new wife of Michael Douglas, is to play the new Bond-Girl. She has already completed some screen test shooting to play on side of Pierce Brosnan in the 20th Bond “Beyond The Ice”, reports UK newspaper The Mirror on Wednesday. According to the paper, she should play the female partner of 007.
A Manager of Eon was cited as saying, “Catherine is alive, independent and very beautiful – a deadly combination for a glamerous spy”. It only has to be checked, if Zeta Jones has time for the shooting. The new Bond-Movie is set for cinemas in 2002 and it will be Brosnan’s last one. The bad guy will be played by Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey (“American Beauty”), shooting locations are Alaska, Ireland, United Kingdom and Washington.
Though there’s some good news about the film in there I can’t help notice the fact that The Mirror reported this news. Remember, back in May 2000 when they reported that Edward Woodward would replace Dame Judi Dench in the role of ‘M’? Well that was disproved and so may this be. Then again, they may be becoming more and more reliable. What I would definetley rule out is their insistance on the shooting locations, these would be totally non-confirmed. The UK (ie. Great Britain) would be real as the MI-6 scene atleast whereas the other three and simple rumours.
I can’t help thinking that sites such as ours may be the source of The Mirror’s EON insider. Back in May 2000 three days before The Mirror posted their article I reported news that she may resign (I received it in an e-mail) and three days later hey presto it’s in the news! Now with this news Catherine Zeta Jones has been discussed ‘thoroughly’ on the newsgroups and bulliten boards, as has the possibility of a great actor such as Kevin Spacey. Though I will not rule out this report in total I must say that it seems that The Mirror are using the internet fans as their ‘inside source’.
In other news we have a better link for that Kevin Spacey article we posted a few days ago. ‘Jersey77’ sent in this link so we much thank him. Go here for a full English article on Popcorn.
On the same topic David sent in this excellent speculation on the whole thing. We rarely post these but David’s had some very good points on it. It’s well worth the read as you’ll learn some Bond tidbits that you may not have known, plus you’ll get another great opinion on recent Bond 20 News:
I’d like to say something about the most recent report on Bond 20. I’d be very skeptical about the ‘confirmation’ of both Spacey as the villain and of Brosnan hanging it up after four. You remember the ‘confirmations’ of Judi Dench leaving the series and Robbie Williams performing the theme song. You’re doing the right thing in not treating these reports as facts. Not only that, but lately, the actors who have been sought out from the beginning have been the ones to make it into the films (rumors of Robert Carlyle as a villain were around for a long time before TWINE went into production. In fact, that was the very first rumor I heard about the picture). Also, on Brosnan’s retirement from the role, there’s something important to consider. In 1980, after completing Moonraker, Roger Moore announced his retirement from the role. He ended up doing three more! So even with all the doomsayers who think Brosnan is on his way out, it’s still likely that he’ll return. I certainly don’t think EON will let him go this easily, not after he’s made $1 billion for them with these three pictures. Brosnan himself is also not firmly committed to leaving; he says he’s “just growing into the role”.
I personally would like to see him do five total. After that, most actors wear out their welcome, and the material becomes weak (Diamonds are Forever, Octopussy, A View to a Kill). Five seems to me to be the greatest number any actor can do and still have them all be of decent quality. First one is the debut, which makes a decent amount of money. Second is a lot like the first in format. For the third we always see new writers, a different director than the first two, and a returning production designer, so it’s very different and usually revered as the actor’s best. Fourth is larger than life (Thunderball, Moonraker) and usually the most profitable. Fifth is still good, but a little less special than some of the others. Six is convoluted, tacky, poorly edited and silly. Don’t start on seven.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and good job on handling the reports. Let’s hope Bond 20 will be as big as the other ‘big fours’ (disturbing, isn’t it, how I’ve spent this much time thinking about this?)
David
David has a lot of good points in there, I like his idea of Brosnan only doing five films, however, personally I would like to see the quality of Brosnan’s fifth as to decided a sixth or a seventh as Brosnan has a totally different style to all the other Bond’s. Also I like his praise of our site 🙂
Another story from the British newspaper, The Mirror, claims that Catherine Zeta Jones (The Entrapment), newly wed to film star Michael Douglas (Romance in the Stone), will appear as Bond’s ally in Bond 20.
The story however, we re unsure whether or not to believe due to the reliability of The Mirror newspaper. You may remember that they said Edward Woodward would be replacing Dame Judi Dench in the role of M., when in fact, MGM told us that it was a “false rumour”. They stated:
Although the story may not be true, we certainly hope it is, as Catherine Zeta Jones would be an excellent choice as Bond’s ally in Bond 20!