After the brilliant SKYFALL, the hype for the upcoming 24th James Bond film is sky high. With pretty much all the key players of SKYFALL returning including writer John Logan and director Sam Mendes, all the ingredients seem to be in place for what could be another classic Bond adventure. But of course Daniel Craig needs a foil and the filmmakers are reportedly targeting a really hot name as the main villain. Chiwetel Ejiofor has been around for a long time and has been supporting in such diverse fair as CHILDREN OF MEN, INSIDE MAN & 2012. However it was only with last year’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE that he really stepped out onto the mainstream scene as a lead player with an Oscar nomination to boot. Ejiofor is apparently on the very top of the list to follow in Javier Bardem’s footsteps as the next Bond villain, although we must stress that nothing official has been mentioned by any of the key players in the production.
I’m all for this piece of casting as I think that Ejiofor not only is a brilliant actor, but he has shown that he can play the villain before in the likes of SERENITY and the aforementioned CHILDREN OF MEN but he can do it with depth. While it’s not uncommon to see Oscar recognized character actors turn to roles as Hollywood blockbuster villains (see also Philip Seymour Hoffman in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3), this could be a blockbuster that could have some depth to it and actually serve to raise his profile even more. We’ll keep you updated on any developments as they come.
Source: The Wrap
