Berenice Marlohe Confirmed As BOND 23 Girl, Helen McCrory & Ben Wishaw Cast

We still can't be 100% sure of just what the title for Bond 23 is (though a compelling case certainly emerged this week that it will be Skyfall... which by the way we are now into our third day without a denial from Sony Pictures) but Sam Mendes is now just weeks away from filming his first blockbuster and details should start coming in thick and fast before the usual big press conference reveal from EON, MGM and Sony. A few such details came in last night with three new faces now confirmed for the picture. First, The Daily Mail has confirmed that relatively obscure French actress Bérénice Marlohe has landed the Bond girl part, after first being rumoured last week. The movie will be her English language debut and she certainly has not just the kind of name Ian Fleming might have come up with (they should make her use her real name!) but also the striking looks of a femme fatale that most Bond girls have. As the picture above shows (which I don't know what movie it is from) she looks like she can take care of herself and has a resemblance to Olga Kurylenko who appeared as the Bond girl in Quantum of Solace. Good find Mr. Mendes, good find. Secondly, the same source says Helen McCrory (below), best known as Narcissa Malfoy in the three Harry Potter films has joined the cast in an unknown role. Thirdly, Ben Wishaw (below), who had been in talks for a role, now seems to be all but confirmed with only weeks until filming begins. He worked twice off the bat with Daniel Craig in Enduring Love and Layer Cake in the mid 00's but is probably best known for leading Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and appearing as John Keats in Bright Star. And with the greatest ever director to helm a Bond movie behind the camera (they've never had an Oscar winner before), a cast of first class talent has emerged. Daniel Craig, in his third of four contracted outings as Bond (he signed a one movie extension after Quantum of Solace) returns as 007, with Judi Dench as M who this time are on a mission to stop Javier Bardem as the villain, with Ralph Fiennes also on board in a mysterious but highly important role, which we imagine to either be Blofeld or certainly this franchise's version of him as the head of Q.U.A.N.T.U.M. If he's not Blofeld, we have our choices of who could be HERE. Naomi Harris is Moneypenny, the character's first screen outing in this rebooted franchise. Rory Kinnear returns as M's assistant. Though as 99% certain as we are of Bardem, Fiennes, Harris and the trio of new thesps in the movie, we can't fully be sure until a press release from Sony comes. But at the moment they don't seem to be in the mood for confirming or denying anything. Bond 23 will hit the U.K. on October 26, 2012 with a U.S. release following on November 9th.