A few weeks ago it was reported that Daniel Craig was in talks to star in Jon Favreau’s Cowboys and Aliens, replacing Robert Downey Jr. who needed to keep himself avaliable for Sherlock Holmes 2. At the time we didn’t know how these negotiations would go, as Bond 23 found itself a director in Sam Mendes and work could have potentially begun as soon as MGM sorted out their finances.

Well according to Deadline Hollywood Craig closed a deal with DreamWorks and Universal this week, and he will begin filming his role of cowboy Zeke Jackson in June. In the film we see what would happen if the traditional Old West enemies – cowboys and Native Americans – found the prairie attacked by aliens in mid-1800s Arizona.

This news also means Bond 23 will probably start filming at the end of 2010 as we heard from Craig himself last year.

Yesterday it was announced that Road to Perdition director Sam Mendes was in talks to direct Bond 23. Usually when it is reported that directors are in ‘negotiations’ or ‘talks’ it is generally assumed that they will end up directing as there is rarely a follow-up on how the negotiations went. However, the situation with MGM means that nothing can be made 100% official until they find a buyer and sort out their finances.

Bond fansite Mi6 contacted Mendes’ publicist who confirmed that he was in talks, but she said it wasn’t official just yet.

“I can confirm that he has had a meeting, but Sam always has lots of projects on the table that he might direct next,” Keene said. “Sam’s method is to have a number of projects as possible next films and at some point to confirm which film he’s going to do.”

According to Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are in final negotiations to bring Mendes on-board as a ‘consultant’.

“The producers are working on a deal to bring Sam on as consultant with an eye to direct,” one of my insiders says. “Once they put him on as the director, something happens to the contract in terms of ownership. But let me emphasize there’s not any deal done.”

It seems they don’t want to hire Mendes as director officially until MGM have sorted themselves out, and the Bond rights have an solid home. It would only complicate things if they hire a director now, but have to ship the rights around in a few months time.

Just yesterday we got quotes from the producers who didn’t really know when filming on Bond 23 would begin (that’s what they said anyway) as MGM were in the process of selling themselves, however now according to Heat Vision they’ve got a director and the film is being fast-tracked!

It’s Mendes. Sam Mendes. The British helmer is in negotiations to direct the 23rd installment of the venerable James Bond franchise.

Production is being fast-tracked and could begin as early as June with an eye toward a 2011 release. Plans for the film are moving forward despite a possible sale of MGM. Sony co-produced and distributed the most recent installment of the 007 series with MGM.

It looks like the producers have gone for another artsy director following Marc Forster with Quantum of Solace. Mendes, who is married to the wonderful Kate Winslet, has directed films such as American Beauty (for which he won an Oscar for Best Director), Jarhead, Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road.

Now they’ve got a director I suppose the next big announcement everyone will be waiting for is the title. Following the news that Mendes was in talks to direct, Twitter came up with a few suggestions:

“Bag. Plastic Bag.”

“The Spy Who Bickered With Me At Length”

“Thunderbawl”

“Revolutionary Rogue”

“Cry Another Day”

“From Russia with Wrong Feelings About My Daughter’s Best Friend”

“The Spy Who Made Me Watch a Discarded Plastic Bag”

“Dr. Know-It-All”

Back in June Peter Morgan, writer of The Queen, Frost/Nixon and The Last King of Scotland, was hired to work on the script for Bond 23 alongside regular James Bond scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. Morgan recently spoke to fan site Mi6 and talked briefly about working on the film.

From July until October this year, Morgan was writing the first draft of Bond 23 – the third outing for Daniel Craig as 007. “It’s a shocking story”, he said after admitting he couldn’t give anything more away.

Being on the 007 team is a new experience for Morgan. “Bond creates a hysteria around it, one that I haven’t previous known”, he said. “It’s a magnet for publicity – everyone wants to know what’s going on with the new Bond”.

Shocking is good. I never thought I’d ever see a scene which involved Bond getting his gonads beat repeatedly by the villain, but that “shocking” scene occured in Casino Royale.

Over the past few months we’ve heard from both Daniel Craig and Judi Dench that filming will take place towards the end of 2010/beginning of 2011, and pre-production is expected to begin in February.

Daniel Craig hinted in October that the cameras on Bond 23 would start rolling towards the end of next year, and now Dame Judi Dench who plays M. told MTV that she is expected to start filming in Spring 2011.

“I think I’m going to be needed in spring of 2011,” she said. “That’s a message I got. It would mean I could do something at the end of next year, something else, maybe be in the theater.”

For her part, Dench can’t wait for the chance to reunite with Craig. “I just think he’ll go on from strength to strength,” she said. “He’s a fantastically good actor.”

If all goes according to plan we will most likely see Bond back on screen in late 2011. The Queen and Frost/Nixon writer Peter Morgan was brought on-board to work on the script back in June, and we should be hearing who will be directing sometime next year.

We haven’t heard anything on the next Bond film since June when The Queen and Frost/Nixon writer Peter Morgan was brought on-board to work on the script. Daniel Craig is currently half way though the run of his Broadway play A Steady Rain alongside Hugh Jackman, and it was while signing autographs for the fans outside where he revealed that they will “start at the end of next year”.

You can watch him saying it below, although it’s not that interesting.

This means there will probably be a late 2011 release for Bond 23, which will be 3 years after the release of Quantum of Solace. No director has been announced yet, although they’ve got roughly a year to find one.

It looks like The Observer were wrong! A few days after they thought Paul Haggis would be back to write the script for Bond 23, MGM have announced that Peter Morgan has been brought on-board to write alongside Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (who have worked on the past few Bond films). Morgan has written a lot of Oscar bait in the past such as The Queen, Frost/Nixon and The Last King of Scotland, so it’s obvious he hasn’t been hired to write the action scenes. Getting a great character writer is a good move by MGM. We’ll have to see if these good creative decisions continue when it comes to finding a director.

No start date or release date have been announced yet, although i’d expect Bond 23 to be released sometime in 2011.

Work on Bond 23 has officially begun. Producer Michael G. Wilson told us that 3 weeks ago. So I suppose at some point in the near future they will need to start thinking about getting a script sorted, and according to The Observer writer Paul Haggis may return to write (the yet to be titled) Bond 23.

I hear that Haggis is also likely to feature as script writer on the next Bond movie, having assisted on the last two. No clues as to the next movie have come from the Broccoli camp just yet. Fresh from the close of BFI Southbank’s two-month tribute to Cubby’s films, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson will confirm nothing other than that Daniel Craig will still be 007.”

Paul Haggis polished the script by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade for Casino Royale, and did the same for Quantum of Solace just before the writers strike so we know it would be in good hands. While the script is important I’m curious to see who they get to direct. While I like Marc Forster, I preferred Royale to Solace and it will be interesting which direction they go next time round. Will it be another drama/character director or a return to the typical action director?

In a very brief interview with The Sun Bond producer Michael G. Wilson revealed that work has begun on the next Bond film. We knew it would happen, it was just a case of when.

‘We have started work on the new film, which I can’t say anything about. Daniel Craig is very keen to get going.’

He also spoke about possible candidates for the next Bond theme song.

‘I would love to get Duffy to sing the next tune,’ he said. ‘I think she is wonderful. Amy Winehouse would be good too.’

Both Duffy and Winehouse were contenders for the Quantum of Solace theme song before Alica Keys and Jack White got the gig, so i’m sure the producers still have their numbers somewhere. Most of you will probably know who Amy Winehouse is (if not Google ‘rehab mess’), so for those thinking ‘who the hell is Duffy?’ here she is below:

It’s a bit early to be talking about the Bond 23 theme song, but who would you like to see take it on?

Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster told MTV that he has declined an offer to return to direct Bond 23. However, he did have some suggestions for what he would like to see on Bond’s next outing.

“They asked me if I wanted to,” Forster told MTV News. “I’ll never say never again, but at this point I would say no.”

“It really depends on what direction they want to take it,” the “Kite Runner” and “Monster’s Ball” director explained. “For me, I wanted to take it to a harder and darker place, but now that that journey I’ve gone on has succeeded, I feel like the next one can take it to a bit more humorous place again.”

“I feel like next time you should take it in a lighter and more humorous way, maybe add a few more girls and a bit more sex – all that kind of stuff,” he said. “I think that would be interesting.”

While I wouldn’t be opposed to this (who would be?) I don’t want the next film to be a romantic comedy. They can add the sex and women as long as it is before, during or after a high speed car chase, explosive mini-bus shoot-out, or an adrenaline filled Go-Kart battle. Lets keep Bond the action master that he is!