It has been well over a year sinceSpectrehit theaters and in the time since, theJames Bondfranchise has been on relatively uncertain ground. The only real certainty being that the franchise is going to continue on one way or the other, be it with current 007Daniel Craigor with a new actor in the iconic role. Despite the seeming uncertainty,James Bond 25looks like it is on the right track as it has been revealed that the production is looking to film in Croatia, possibly before the end of the year.
The report comes courtesy of the fan siteMI6 HQwho are reporting that Eon Productions, the company in charge of theJames Bond franchise, is in negotiations to shoot the next installment in Croatia. The news came directly from the mayor of the city of Dubrovnik, who reported at a press conference that was held recently forRobin Hood: Origins, which is also filming there, that007is likely heading to Croatia. Here is what he had to say.
“James Bond is in an advanced stage of negotiations.”
While the knowledge thatJames Bond 25is likely going to be filming in Croatia may not be all that exciting in itself, given the current status of the franchise, this is actually very good news. A separate report from Yahoo! Movies notes that cameras are supposed to roll later this year, which would mean that things must be on track to some degree. Sony and MGM have made it clear that they want to seeDaniel Craigback for at least one more movie, but he has been noncommittal up to this point. He famously said just afterSpectrefinished filming that he would rather “slash his wrists” than do anotherJames Bondmovie. However, he walked back those statements toward the end of last year when speaking with Vulture. Here is what he had to say.
“They say that shit sticks, and that definitely stuck. It was the day after filming [stopped on Spectre]. I’d been away from home for a year. Boo-hoo. It’s a good gig. I enjoy it. Everyone’s a bit tired. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve got the best job in the world. I’ll keep doing it as long as I still get a kick out of it. If I were to stop doing it, I would miss it terribly.”
The fact that the producers are already planning locations for filming onJames Bond 25must mean, at least to some degree, that they have a story in place. That is significant because the story would likely change a lot depending on who is playing 007. If it isDaniel Craig, they will likely be continuing the storyline that was left somewhat open-ended at the end ofSpectre, which saw him seemingly walking away from things with Madeleine (Lea Seydoux) and deciding not to kill Blofeld(Christoph Waltz). If it is a new actor, they will be going in a new direction and will likely be hitting the reset button on the series to some degree. So far, names likeMichael Fassbender,Tom Hiddleston,Aidan TurnerandIdris Elbahave all been thrown around.Tom Hardyrecently expressed interest in possibly taking on the role ifChristopher Nolanwere in the director’s chair. All of this to say that, if they are already planning locations and possibly looking to shoot later this year, they must have a pretty good idea of who M is going to be sending on a mission this time around.
Daniel Craigrecently became thesecond longest-serving actorto playJames Bondin the history of the franchise, butSpectredidn’t satisfy fans and critics in the way thatSkyfalldid, so it would be nice to see him get one more crack at it to send hisBondoff in style. We do know that no matter who is playing the famed MI6 spy inJames Bond 25, directorSam Mendeswon’t be back and there is no word on who will replace him, though,John WickdirectorChad Stahelskirecently expressed interest. In any case, this is a good sign for those hoping to seeJames Bondreturn to the big screen sooner rather than later.
