Weisz as villain rumor

blueman

Cinema Blend is reporting this, re Rachel Weisz being considered for the head of Quantum in Bond 23:

What we can tell you in this case is that our information comes from a reliable, proven source who’s broken numerous, since confirmed stories to us over a period of several years. For instance, it was this same source that was the first anywhere to break the news that Black Widow would be in Iron Man 2. But as with all rumors, even when they’re from a proven source like this one, it’s just rumor until it can be confirmed by a second, independent source. In fact this particular source affirmed that in our communication, reiterating that it’s still very early in the process and that because of this, “things can change in a heartbeat and they might even try to deny what I told you but that’s what’s the brainstorming going on now.” Now you know what we know.

If true great casting IMO.

Number24

Interesting, but still a rumour. I think Weisz can be a good villan. Could this be the UN-worker part falsly rumoured for Olivia Wilde or perhaps there are three major female parts?

Or perhaps all rumours we have heard so far are worng?

Hardyboy

Number24 wrote:

Or perhaps all rumours we have heard so far are worng?

Probably worng. ) We're in the midst of silly season, so take everything with a handful of salt.

Dmitri Mishkin

Could be interesting as long as they steer clear of any Electra King-like plot lines.

HowardB

Interesting. All previous indications were that EON was going to leave Quantum out of Bond 23. If this is true it does look like Quantum is the new SPECTRE which is fine by me. Rachel Weisz is a fine actress with an exotic look (beautiful but not the typical model/actress look) and can do just about any type of accent the role might call for. With a female master villain, they will need to write and cast some really good secondary male villains, henchmen, etc. Of course if Quantum is back, we would certainly need an appearence by the mysterious Mr. White, the most interesting villain IMO since the Connery days. The best part about this news (if it is indeed true) is that despite MGM's problems, EON continues to move along in preperation for filming Bond 23. Whatever happens to MGM, EON knows that there will be a production/distribution partner for them. Casting a quality/name actress along with hiring a well respected director just makes Bond more tantilizing to any suitors who come their way.

Loeffelholz

I rather hope this one's true---talk about sexual tension...!

Of all the baseless stuff we typically get in the run-up to production, this is one I'm rooting for. Thanks for sharing, blue! {[]

ghost1

I support this choice,but I usually don't get involved with all the gossip and rumours. If this were 100% true than I'd be all for it.

Red Indian

Upon further consideration, I think Weisz could be an interesting choice.

I have always found something aloof about her in certain roles - as if she's "not quite there" and that could be an interesting choice for the story.

I suppose if given the opportunity she could let loose and be a bit scary. Her beauty could play well to the fact that the source of all of our man's pain is, on the outside, a paradox for Bond!

At this rate, 007 will never trust a woman again!

My initial problem (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is that she has never played bad in any of her roles. She always plays the sympathetic character, whether it's the wife, the girlfriend, etc.

I have been looking over her career info and pic's this afternoon though, and I did come across some pictures that led me to believe their could be some underlying evil! Maybe she can show audiences that she's capable of something else!

Mr Martini

Red Indian wrote:

I guess it's time to take sides again!

I am all for a female villain! For the head of Quantum I think it's a very bold choice but I hope it's not Weisz. It's not that I think she's a bad actress, I'd just rather they went with someone with some real weight and menace! I'm thinking of Rosa Klebb!

In the sipirt of IF, if Bond is to go up against a woman she should be less physically attractive and a bit more frightening!

I never bought Sophie Marceau as a villainess! Too damn beautiful!

What about Tilda Swinton or someone else along those lines?

I'm thinking more of the novels and IF's blueprint always translates well to the screen when it's used properly. When Bond goes up against a woman she's usually unattractive, physically strong, etc...

I know it's not for everyone, but I hope they continue to go in the same direction as the last two films!

I'm sure they could find an attractive woman who could play psychotic very well, I just don't see Weisz as it! She strikes more as the type who would be an ally to 007...

How about Nicole Bass? \/

Red Indian

Nicole Bass!

We don't Craig getting his ass beaten, do we? )

There's another rumour floating around that she'll be tapped to play Catwoman in the next Batman film. I could see her doing that quite well - she'd be great as Selina Kyle. I've always viewed her as that perfect librarian type!

I'm very protective of 007! I just don't want to see them screw up a good thing while it's just gotten off the ground!

Maybe this is a whole new direction for her career!

blueman

There's this (and possible spoilers ahead... maybe):

http://rachel-weisz-fans.blogspot.com/2010...y.html#comments

According to a close friend of Rachel there already exists a first draft for the upcoming Bond adventure. The working title is "The Property of a Lady" - just like "Quantum of Solace" the title of a short story by Bond creator Ian Fleming. But unlike QOS, some elements of the original story are used for the screenplay - among other things the name Maria Freudenstein for the villainous role, and the auction (Fleming wrote the story for Sotherby's magazine The Ivory Hammer) This auction will be seen in the pre-title sequence. It is a clandestine international auction that takes place during a conference in the United Nations headquarter in New York - a sequence similar to the opera scene in "Quantum of Solace".


"They turn the usual Bond story upside down", said the friend. "Typically 007 chases a megalomaniac and restrains him from taking over world domination in the end. This time Bond has to learn just in the beginning that Quantum already has world domination." That also defines the title: The property of this lady is the whole world. And of course Quantum does it's best to go to war against Bond and the MI6, with disturbing means. "They really shock the audience this time", he smirked. Remember that this film will be the swan song for Judi Dench's M. One of the screenplay's topics is supposed to be genetic engineering and the swine flu.

This just popped up on that website:

Anonymous said...
Please delete this content immediately, otherwise we have to take legal steps against you!

Lilly Cullen,
Eon Productions Limited

Wonder if there's anything to it...

Red Indian

Thank you for posting this Blueman!

I'm in; this sounds awesome! I love the title and how it ties into the plot - if that's what they end up going with!

The title also makes me think that until he sets things right, Bond himself is "The Property of a Lady"... and we all know how he feels about any part of him being owned by a woman!

Loeffelholz

...and the blog's been deleted :v

If true, this is fantastic news :007) If somebody pops in and threatens AJB, that should cinch it...

Harry Palmer

Finally some news. And judging by EON's overreaction, it might actually be more than just gossip.

Sounds good.

Mr Martini

Judi Denchs swam song as M? I didn't realize that. Does this mean she'll go out in dramatic fashion :v ?

blueman

Loeffelholz wrote:

...and the blog's been deleted :v

If true, this is fantastic news :007) If somebody pops in and threatens AJB, that should cinch it...

Still up, I think I copy-pasted the link wrong, sorry. Here it is again, just to track it:

http://rachel-weisz-fans.blogspot.com/2010/03/next-bond-entitled-property-of-lady.html#comments

I do keep looking, to see if that content gets deleted... :v

007 and a half

blueman wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

...and the blog's been deleted :v

If true, this is fantastic news :007) If somebody pops in and threatens AJB, that should cinch it...

Still up, I think I copy-pasted the link wrong, sorry. Here it is again, just to track it:

http://rachel-weisz-fans.blogspot.com/2010/03/next-bond-entitled-property-of-lady.html#comments

I do keep looking, to see if that content gets deleted... :v

That comment was probably an April fool, I really can't imagine someone from Eon posting a comment on that thread, particularly as their grammar was poor and they've no reason to threaten legal action.

nms75

I agree with 007 and a half! If EON spotted the post and felt they needed to take action this would be done privately between the board/blog owner and EON NOT publically.

NMS

blueman

Yeah, could be. I like to think it's a solid leak, though. B-)

Loeffelholz

blueman wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

...and the blog's been deleted :v

If true, this is fantastic news :007) If somebody pops in and threatens AJB, that should cinch it...

Still up, I think I copy-pasted the link wrong, sorry. Here it is again, just to track it:

http://rachel-weisz-fans.blogspot.com/2010/03/next-bond-entitled-property-of-lady.html#comments

I do keep looking, to see if that content gets deleted... :v

That one doesn't work for me either, so dunno ?:)

If it was only an April Fools' thing by somebody, somewhere...boo hiss. My wife's birthday is April 1st...so we don't observe the 'fools' thing... I'd certainly rather think that such a good idea was real...especially if they're going to cap Dame Judi :v

Barry Nelson

Anytime I read a story that starts with "a close friend of" I immediately don't believe it.

blueman

Loeffelholz wrote:

blueman wrote:

Loeffelholz wrote:

...and the blog's been deleted :v

If true, this is fantastic news :007) If somebody pops in and threatens AJB, that should cinch it...

Still up, I think I copy-pasted the link wrong, sorry. Here it is again, just to track it:

http://rachel-weisz-fans.blogspot.com/2010/03/next-bond-entitled-property-of-lady.html#comments

I do keep looking, to see if that content gets deleted... :v

That one doesn't work for me either, so dunno ?:)

If it was only an April Fools' thing by somebody, somewhere...boo hiss. My wife's birthday is April 1st...so we don't observe the 'fools' thing... I'd certainly rather think that such a good idea was real...especially if they're going to cap Dame Judi :v

Yep, it's down now apparently, also that blogger's profile page. Interesting.

Loeffelholz

Barry Nelson wrote:

Anytime I read a story that starts with "a close friend of" I immediately don't believe it.

Hmm, yes...but if this is a total hoax, I'll at least give due credit for "depth of field," at least from a frame of reference standpoint...but as ever, time will tell!

Sure beats the one about Lady Gaga doing the next theme... )

blueman

I'm not only wanting to believe it (cuz it all sounds pretty cool), but kinda leaning to its being real: from way left field - a friend of an actor rumored to be in consideration etc. fan blog, no direct Bond fandom link at all - lots of researchy detail one wouldn't need if the intent was to hoax and jerk some fanboy chains, and an internet wipeout after 24 hours? Don't leaks happen via such non-direct routes anyway? Yeah, maybe somebody's riffing on Cinema Blend's Weisz story and April Fooling, but we're getting all sorts of rumors without such pedigree... I'll go 50-50, as silly that someone went to all that trouble as it is true.

Red Indian

Agreed Blue.

Haven't we heard about the possibility of Dench's M being killed off for some time now? I think it's plausible...

blueman

Has anyone from the Weisz or Mendes camps denied it yet? Wouldn't expect EON to say anything, but somebody's manager usually chimes in about now, if for no other reason then to keep whozit's name in the press.

Mister White

I can't shed any light on the fact if it's true or not, but I have to say that if it is, I would welcome it. She's a very talented actress with a very broad range.

Did anybody see her performance in 'the lovely bones'? Very moving, and a great film too!

spynovelfan

blueman wrote:

I'm not only wanting to believe it (cuz it all sounds pretty cool), but kinda leaning to its being real: from way left field - a friend of an actor rumored to be in consideration etc. fan blog, no direct Bond fandom link at all - lots of researchy detail one wouldn't need if the intent was to hoax and jerk some fanboy chains, and an internet wipeout after 24 hours? Don't leaks happen via such non-direct routes anyway? Yeah, maybe somebody's riffing on Cinema Blend's Weisz story and April Fooling, but we're getting all sorts of rumors without such pedigree... I'll go 50-50, as silly that someone went to all that trouble as it is true.

No, the blog was bogus. Here is a cache of the blog: http://bit.ly/dzLvy1 It was set up in March and only has six entries, two about Bond.

It has links to three other Rachel Weisz sites: the first is automated, the other two genuine. The third, Amazing Rachel Weisz, can be found here: http://r-weisz.net If you click on updates, you'll find articles with the exact same titles as the other blog entries on this site. So it looks like they just Googled 'Rachel Weisz blog', added links to the first three and took the titles of the latest news from one of them to make it seem like this wasn't the sole post.

The blogger claims to be a longtime fan and friend of Weisz and even includes a photo of himself with her. But the piece is clearly written by a longtime Bond fan - what are the chances? It seems very unlikely that a Weisz fan who had only just set up their blog would refer to the placement of the story in The Ivory Hammer, source a scan of the story as it originally appeared in Playboy (from here: http://illustrated007.blogspot.com/2009/07/property-of-lady.html ) and comment on the similarity to the opera scene in Quantum of Solace. But referring to that film as 'QOS'? Dead giveaway that it's a Bond fan, and very likely someone who has been discussing the next film on Bond discussion forums.

EON haven't responded to the zillions of rumours in print and online about this film and previous ones - including rumours in national newspapers about Weisz. Why would they respond to this, and do so in a comment to the blog? They wouldn't: it's been done by the blogger to make it look like he was close to the truth.

Final and I think incontrovertible piece of evidence that this is bogus: click on the first blog entry, 'Rachel Wins Olivier Theatre Award "Best Actress"' over on the right. You won't get the article, but check out the resulting url, which ends with '/rachel-in-new-james-bond-movie.html' The blogger started with that title, but then changed their mind, realizing it would never be believed if it was the first entry. So he changed it to something from another Weisz site. But once you've started an entry with Blogger, it keeps the url of the first title or words you entered, even if you change the content later.

I would guess if you scrolled through threads here or at MI6 or CommanderBond that mention Property of a Lady as a potential title, you'd find someone suggesting a similar plot to this and there would be your culprit.

blueman

Awesome sleuthing, snf. {[]

Still fascinating to me how this is sandwiched in between the Cinema Blend rumor and that tabloid story. Also still like the basic plot idea expounded, starting with world domination is a pretty awesome Bond idea (EON should hire this guy/gal, lol).

SpectreBlofeld

blueman wrote:

Awesome sleuthing, snf. {[]

Still fascinating to me how this is sandwiched in between the Cinema Blend rumor and that tabloid story. Also still like the basic plot idea expounded, starting with world domination is a pretty awesome Bond idea (EON should hire this guy/gal, lol).

I was gonna say the same thing - dear EON, if this is a hoax article, regard it as free advice, because it sounds frickin' awesome.

blueman

Yeah, but what's sad is what's happening on the other forums.