Show business is all about spectacle. For example, if you’re James Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and you want to dominate a press cycle, you throw a “Bond 25 live reveal” in Jamaica simulcast online.
No need to specify what will or will not be revealed; people will tune in, and then once you’ve got their attention, it won’t matter that the only thing you’ve got to unveil is tertiary casting announcements. This is, as it happens, precisely what took place today.
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While 007 superfans eagerly tuned in this morning in anticipation of a title for the 25th film featuring the world’s greatest spy, they were somewhat underwhelmed to learn from Broccoli and Wilson that the project remains unnamed. No news of who might be taking over the tuxedo after current star Daniel Craig excuses himself following this film, either.
Today’s only new information concerns casting beyond the previously confirmed Rami Malek, who portrays the film’s villain. He’ll be joined in an unspecified capacity by Billy Magnussen, Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, Lashana Lynch, and David Dencik. And, as previously reported, Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be on scripting duties, which suggests a welcome change of tone for the franchise.
In addition to Craig, returning stars also include Ralph Fiennes as head honcho M, Lea Seydoux as beguiling doctor Madeleine Swann, Ben Whishaw as tech whiz Q, Naomie Harris as the no-nonsense Miss Moneypenny, Jeffrey Wright as CIA liaison Felix Leiter, and Rory Kinnear as MI6 chief of staff Bill Tanner.
The day’s biggest development was instead the posting of the sublimely unsettling video below, a recorded message from Malek, who couldn’t join the group due to prior obligations. There’s an ineffable creepiness to his lilting cadence of speech, though the guy’s playing a global megalomaniac of some sort, so that’s probably what he’s going for. Even so, haunting stuff.
A word about #BOND25 from Rami Malek pic.twitter.com/CLJ5mpO9mu — James Bond (@007) April 25, 2019
