Tradecraft: Bond Starts Shooting in December

Variety reports that production will officially begin on the still untitled Bond 24 on December 6. About time! My internal biological Bond clock is still somehow set to an era I was for the most part too young to every really know (except for a three film run during the Brosnan era) when Bond movies materialized every two years like clockwork. So last week as we hit the two year mark from Skyfall's release, I really started getting pangs badly. It's too bad we've got to wait three years for Sam Mendes' follow-up to that blockbuster (Bond 24 is slated to open in the U.K. on Oct. 23, 2015, and in the U.S. Nov. 6, 2015), but at least it won't be four again like that excruciating period between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall! A firm shooting date always makes me feel more at ease. Despite daily rumors in the tabloid press, no casting announcements have yet been made about villains or Bond Girls in Bond 24. (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol's Lea Seydoux is widely touted for a role.) But the returning MI6 support staff is known. In addition to Daniel Craig (obviously!) returning as Agent 007, Ralph Fiennes will be back as M, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner and Ben Whishaw as Q.