The cat’s out of the bag. Back in February, I reported one of the first pieces of news about the shifting tectonic plates of the “Bond 25” film directed by Cary Fukunaga. Just one day after the announcement that the release date of the film was delayed a few months—changing its intended Valentine’s Day 2020 release date to Easter, April 8, 2020—we revealed that Scott Z. Burns, writer of “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Contagion,” and Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming heavyweight A-list ensemble drama “The Laundromat,” was rewriting the script. Bond seemed at risk of missing its April production release date, but essentially made it, though official production was pushed back a few weeks.
READ MORE: Scott Z. Burns Hired To Rewrite ‘Bond 25’ For Director Cary Fukunaga [Exclusive]
There was more, something I revealed on Twitter and then again on The Words Are Not Enough podcast—a 007 podcast run by Playlister Griffin Schiller and pal Brody Serravalli—back in April: Christoph Waltz would be returning to the series and reprising his role as Blofeld. Tonight that’s been confirmed by trusted U.K. writer Baz Bamigboye.
What’s the scoop? Isn’t Rami Malek the villain of “Bond 25?” Yes. I’ve heard that Blofeld returns in a kind of “Silence Of The Lambs”-like appearance; Clarice Starling (in this case Lea Seydoux), visiting him in prison and trying to mine him for information about Malek’s sadistic character. I don’t want to say more for spoilers, and in full transparency, I don’t know the entire plot—it’s potentially changed a lot too given that both Burns and “Fleabag” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge have written on it—but I don’t really expect for Waltz to have as significant a role as last time, he’ll likely take a back seat to the focus on Malek.
READ MORE: Léa Seydoux Teams Up With Daniel Craig’s 007 Once Again In ‘Bond 25’
But clearly, much of the “Spectre” cast is back for this final Bond installment, a least for 007 Daniel Craig. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are also credited on the script (as usual) and “Bond 25” will hit theaters next spring. More updates when we have them. Listen to the podcast for more details about the plot below.
READ MORE: ‘Bond 25’ Producers Throw Out Boyle/Hodge Script In Favor Of Purvis & Wade Treatment
Twitter scoop I shoulda posted as a story long ago, but life got in the way and I'm way too exhausted now: Christoph Waltz is back in #BOND25 as Blofeld. Will likely be announced in the AM (unless the script radically changed).
— The Playlist (@ThePlaylistNews) April 25, 2019
This, of course, isn't news to our loyal listeners! We sat down and chatted with @YrOnlyHope about Waltz's return way back in April. You can listen to it here:
iTunes:https://t.co/YDMzRV677s
Spotify:https://t.co/zVZOq4L6aP
iHeartRadiohttps://t.co/HgJbfCqTMc https://t.co/A60BYY9axK pic.twitter.com/VgIInJbdNo
— The Words Are Not Enough (@TWANEpod) July 11, 2019
Exclusive:Hello Mr Waltz… we’ve been expecting you.#ChristophWaltz is back as #Blofeld in @007 #Bond25 , shooting scenes at Pinewood studios . When a visitor spotted him , Waltz insisted , “You haven’t seen me.” pic.twitter.com/g1X91cEJbf
— Baz Bamigboye @Deadline (@BazBam) July 11, 2019
