Cinema Blend is reporting that Academy Award winning actor Javier Bardem has been confirmed to be playing the villain in the upcoming, still-untitled 23rd James Bond film.
Bardem, understandably tight-lipped about the role, had this to say:
“I am very excited. My parents took me to watch the movies, and I saw all of them, so to play that is going to be fun. They chose me to play this man, but I cannot give you many details.”
This is great news for the franchise. There was reason to be concerned over the past couple of years, what with the financial problems MGM was having, but with the addition of Bardem, we know at the very least that we’ll have a great villain. We’ve already seen just how menacing Bardem can be in his Oscar-winning role as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men.
Combine this with a screenplay written by John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator, Sweeney Todd), Neal Purvis, and Robert Wade (both of whom co-wrote Casino Royale), as well as direction from Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty), and it seems like we’re going to be in for a fantastic Bond outing.
The last two films have resulted in ups and downs with Bond facing a menacing, card-playing terrorist banker (Mads Mikkelsen) in Casino Royale and then facing a less-than-threatening environmentalist (Mathieu Amalric) in Quantum of Solace. Who knows what we can expect with Bardem as Bond’s next adversary?
We still have a long time before we find out as the film is currently set for release on November 9, 2012.
