Ya know what's been missing from the
Daniel Craig led Bond movies? Larger than life villains. Le Chiffre had his dodgy eye and Dominic Greene was a bit of a Polanski-esque nutter, but what we really need for the 23rd installment in the franchise is an ex-German covert specialist ops Navy General guy with gold-plated teeth, a hat that shoots acid and a three-legged dog that sits on his lap for two thirds of the movies duration. But I suppose we would settle for
Anthony Hopkins. Hannibal Lecter himself is reportedly 'close to signing a deal' to become Bond's latest nemesis,
The Sun reports. Which means it's 99.99999% likely to be false but hey, it's a slow news day... Hopkins, despite his acceptance of
lower grade quality work year in and year out, still enjoys a considerable pulling power and would be a great coup for EON Productions and director Sam Mendes. An elusive 'source' claims that;
"the only stumbling block seems to be the number of films he is signing up for. There is a chance the character they want him to play could become a regular feature, like Blofeld back in the day."
Is this, then, the character Academy Award winner
Javier Bardem has been
offered already and who said recently of the role;
Id be playing Bonds nemesis, yes but its not that obvious. Everything is more nuanced. Its very intriguing Theyre changing the whole thing, the whole dynamic.
Last we heard Bardem was weighing up whether to star in the epic series of films & t.v. seasons dedicated to Stephen King's The Dark Tower, the schedule of which could have effected the chances of him appearing in the still untitled Bond 23.
While this new Hopkins statement should be taken with more than a handful of salt, the notion of a recurring Bond villain for the 21st century, whether played by Bardem or Hopkins or someone else, is an idea we could easily get behind. Whilst modern movie-goers and indeed directors seem to favour the closure that witnessing the antagonist meeting his/her demise grants them, an ongoing feud spanning Craig's career as 007 would surely help to reignite the spark that many felt was missing from the (still overwhelmingly profitable) Quantum of Solace. And well, Hopkins wouldn't need any make-up to portray Blofeld would he? He's already got the whole dodgy eye thing and
if you listen to Donald Pleasance's version of the character, it almost could be Hannibal Lecter saying those things.
The wheels are being put in motion for filming on Bond 23 to begin at the end of this year, with an intended release date of November 2012. Along with the return of Craig as 007, Dame
Judi Dench shall also reprise her role as M, theatre actor
Simon Russell Beale is expected to have a role, as is
Ralph Fiennes who is
in talks, and of course there's that offer to Bardem to play a villain. As for the Hopkins story? He's the most obvious choice in the world to play a new Blofeld and considering it originated in The Sun newspaper, it's pure fantasy.