In a brief
red carpet interview with the BBC at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards where she received an outstanding achievement award,
Dame Judi Dench confirmed that she would indeed be back bossing British secret agent
James Bond as M for the soon to be shooting 23rd installment, and her seventh outing. No surprises here, but good to have it confirmed by the lady herself;
"Of course, I'm looking forward hugely to working with Daniel (Craig) again and with Sam (Mendes) whom I've only ever worked with in the theatre. So that'll be all good fun to do! I'm so glad it's coming back, it's wonderful."
Dench first took up the role in Goldeneye at the dawn of Pierce Brosnan's tenure and immediately brought a stern but caring quality to the role, completely opposed to her previous male pushover predecessors. Her M is not one to be messed with and commanded Bonds respect. With Sam Mendes directing from a screenplay written by Bond vets Neal Purvis, Robert Wade (wrote every Bond of the last decade) and John Logan (Sweeney Todd, The Aviator), the currently refereed to as Bond 23 (
see here for speculation over the proper moniker) will begin production in late 2011 for worldwide release on November 9, 2012. Good to know Dame Judi is on board. After all, what is James Bond without an M... ...Jaes Bond, thats what.