Christoph Waltz rumored for Bond 24

Rumor has it that Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz has signed on to play the villain in Bond 24. Filming is set to begin next month so it is a bit surprising that more casting announcements haven't hit yet. If this is true I think it would be a great casting choice. Bond 24 is set for release on November 6, 2015.

Waltz will be seen next in Horrible Bosses 2 and has come pretty accustomed to playing the villain. He won an Oscar for his portrayal of a brutal Nazi officer in Inglorious Basterds and has also played the bad guy in Water for Elephants, The Green Hornet, and had been rumored to be in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Lea Seydoux sought after for Bond 24

Sam Mendes has apparently chosen his own personal Bond girl and that girl is Lea Seydoux. If you saw Blue is the Warmest Color you would recognize her as she played a free-spirited young lesbian named Emma.

Bond 24 has hit a couple speedbumps as of late. The most recent being a massive script re-write by Bond veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. It seems that the re-write did the trick as casting is now starting to move forward. Director Sam Mendes expressed his desire to cast Seydoux in the role of a young agent. There is no telling whether she would be a villain or an ally, but she would definitely be interesting casting. Seeing that Naomie Harris is returning as Miss Moneypenny I wasn't so sure we were going to have a typical "Bond girl" for Bond 24.

Bond 24 production delayed

Shooting of Bond 24 was scheduled to begin in October so it could meet the November 5, 2015 release date, but the project has now received a delay until December. The studio is citing extensive rewrites to the script as the reason for the setback.

Writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade left the world of 007 after Skyfall and handed the reigns over to John Logan to write the script for Bond 24. It seems as though that was a mistake as Purvis and Wade have been brought back in to rewrite the script for to give it more "punch." Apparently this includes amping up the relationship between Bond and Miss Moneypenny (aka, Naomi Harris), placing in more gags, and a more involved interaction between Bond and Ralph Fienne's version of M. The pair previously worked on The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall.

I wouldn't let this worry anyone. Skyfall was 100% awesome and it ended on a very high note. Not to mention Sam Mendes is returning to direct Bond 24. Even if the release date receives a slight delay I don't think this is a bad thing at all.

Sam Mendes to direct Bond 24

Despite previously announcing that he would not be directing Bond 24, Sam Mendes has officially closed the deal with Sony to direct the upcoming James Bond movie. Mendes previously directed Skyfall and did a pretty good job with it.

Along with this news, Bond 24 will now join the extremely large list of blockbusters to be released in 2015. The film will be released in the UK on October 23, 2015 and in the US on November 6, 2015. That puts it on the same weekend as Ant-Man and the untitled Peanuts movie. With that said, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ant-Man's release date moved so it doesn't have a major movie to compete with at the box office. That is unless Marvel doesn't have that high of expectations for Ant-Man at the box office.

Bond 24 will have Daniel Craig returning as 007.

Penelope Cruz cast in Bond 24

Say hello to your new Bond girl.

Penelope Cruz has been cast in Bond 24 and will be the best girl to accommodate 007. She also will be the oldest actress to play in a James Bond movie as she will soon be turning 40. Just a random fact.

Bond 24 is set to begin filming next summer for an unannounced release.

Sam Mendes will not direct Bond 24

Despite being offered the opportunity to direct the next 007 movie after the success of Skyfall, director Sam Mendes has officially passed on the project citing other commitments as the reason. Mendes has two projects he is claiming he needs to focus on and doesn't have the time to take on Bond 24 as a third project.

There currently is no plot or anyone else in place other than Daniel Craig for Bond 24, so it is a bit difficult to make any predictions now. I personally was hoping Sam Mendes would come back because I loved Skyfall, but life moves on.