Even the best, seemingly most reliable, outlets of the British Press are not the New York Times or reputable American media. Example, earlier this year, the London Times reported that “Robin Hood” was being re-upped to 3D (which turned out to be false), and then London Telegraph reported that Joe Wright would be directing “My Fair Lady” (which also turned out to be untrue). Sigh, so if you can’t trust the best U.K. press, who can you trust?
That being said, we’ll take this new report with a slight grain of salt, but at the same time, keep an eye on it as “Bond 23” (its working title) seems to have been moving nowhere quickly this year.
The Telegraph is reporting that Peter Morgan (“The Queen”) is no longer involved in the writing of the screenplay, but offers very little in terms of details why. His replacement is allegedly Patrick Marber, an acclaimed British playwright and screenwriter (“Notes on a Scandal”). Apparently MGM is already denying this, but their quote is an odd one, not a straight denial and one that reads, “the filmmakers say the Morgan / Marber switch is just speculation.” Why not say it’s just “total bullshit” and or “patently false”?
Who knows. Morgan has a reputation in the U.K. (we heard some unflattering things about his exit on “The Special Relationship,” a film he was supposed to direct for HBO), but we’re still eyeing this report with some suspicion just because it reads a little funny.
Meanwhile, there’s been rumors going round that Jamie Bell, who starred alongside Daniel Craig in “Defiance,” and (eventually coming to screens in 2011) “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” would be joining the next Bond installment as a villain (a young 00 agent that turns to the otherside), but Cinemablend has gone out of their way to layout some evidence that pretty clearly suggests this is bullshit (in case you didn’t believe the U.K. tabloid rumors to begin with).
But “Bond 23” has been overflowing with gossip mongering. Rachel Weisz is rumored to play a villain, apparently she and Mendes dated once, but that report is so far not confirmed and rumors of both Freida Pinto and Olivia Wilde joining the cast were debunked before the conjectures barely even began to fan out.
The project is reputed to be set in Afghanistan and was supposed to shoot this fall, but regardless of whether Peter Morgan is still onboard or not, that’s not likely going to happen. MGM is facing seriously debilitating financial issues and the script still seems to be in flux and incomplete. All these reports do little to convey a sense of stability and to build any kind of faith in believing that an autumn shoot is possible.
