ALISON BOSHOFF: Bond reboot won't go back to the Sixties but new 007 WILL be British!
There will be no going 'back to the future' for the next James Bond film, with numerous sources saying that new producers David Heyman and Amy Pascal are planning a modern reboot – with a young, most likely homegrown leading man as the iconic British super-spy.
After the death of Daniel Craig's 007 in No Time To Die in 2021, then the surprise sale of the control of the franchise to Amazon earlier this year, there was speculation the company might make 'vintage' Bond stories, set in the 1960s, like Ian Fleming's original novels.
However, that's not the direction of travel.
Barbie and Harry Potter producer Heyman is aiming for a 'classic clean start', set in the present day – with modern gadgets and technology, and modern villains and problems.
Heyman is understood to be well advanced with plans to get Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron to direct the next two Bond pictures.
Cuaron, whose credits include the Oscar-winning films Roma and Gravity, actually came close to signing on to direct The World Is Not Enough in 1999, and had meetings with Barbara Broccoli and her team before thinking again.
Heyman and Cuaron are good friends, which doesn't hurt. They got to know each other well when Cuaron directed Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban in 2004.
After the death of Daniel Craig's 007 in No Time To Die in 2021, then the surprise sale of the control of the franchise to Amazon earlier this year, there was speculation the company might make 'vintage' Bond stories, set in the 1960s, like Ian Fleming's original novels
A source said: 'Work has started and the aim is to bring out a big-budget release and reboot in late 2026 or 2027. It's going to be a clean start and a clean slate.
Not period. The thrill of new technology and new cars and new clothes has always been a part of it.'
Heyman is seen as a smart choice. He produced the Paddington and Harry Potter films – both distinctively British in sensibility without straying into Austin Powers territory.
His co-producer Pascal was the head of Sony when the studio rebooted Bond by casting Daniel Craig in Casino Royale.
Matthew Field, who is on the board of directors of the Ian Fleming Foundation and the co-author of Some Kind Of Hero: The Remarkable Story Of The James Bond Films, reckons the next film would be just the first step in a long journey.
He says: 'Amazon are most certainly going to get a 'tentpole film' [a major release expected to generate a lot of revenue] out first, to set the agenda for the new Bond universe.
'The obvious spin-offs would be a series on Miss Moneypenny or Q – but they can only do these once we know and understand who Moneypenny and Q are, in the new era of Bond.'
There are potential pitfalls. 'The whole success of the relaunch will depend on them getting the casting of James Bond just right,' Field warns. 'I don't think we'll hear a name officially for a little while yet. They'll take time to get it right.
'It won't be an A-list movie star like Cillian Murphy or Tom Hiddleston – they are too well known at this point.'
Gorgeous George protests too much
Lifelong Democrat George Clooney was on waspish form discussing US President Donald Trump in Variety magazine this week.
'It's funny, because he's just a New York beast,' Clooney said. 'We've all known him for 30 years, and he was just a guy chasing women. But whatever. It's fine. We're going to get through it.'
Lifelong Democrat George Clooney was on waspish form discussing US President Donald Trump in Variety magazine this week
The actor intervened when it looked as if the incumbent president, Joe Biden, was going to press ahead and fight Trump at the election last year – begging him to 'step aside'.
Some now blame him for the failure of Kamala Harris's campaign.
The actor, currently on stage on Broadway in Good Night, And Good Luck, always insists he doesn't want a political career ... but he certainly seems to be tiptoeing in that direction.
Amanda Holden and Alan Carr have sold the Spanish property they gave a televised makeover – dubbed Casa Alamanda – less than a month after it was put on the market.
The home in Moclin, near Granada, was on offer for £205,000 and is now sold subject to contract. The money will be divided between Comic Relief and BBC Children In Need.
It was run-down when it was bought for £54,500. With the help of two teams of local builders, Holden and Carr installed a bar in the living room and created a patio garden on the first-floor roof terrace.
The real (toy) story behind Florence's misfits
Florence Pugh is the best thing in Thunderbolts* – Disney's latest Marvel movie, which opens this week and means that we are officially in summer blockbuster season.
Pugh says that she enjoyed the complexity of playing Russian assassin Yelena Belova, adding: 'I think it's brave that Marvel has started dipping their toe into exploring the inner workings of characters, and seeing what they must go through, to be on point all the time.
Florence Pugh is the best thing in Thunderbolts* – Disney's latest Marvel movie
Meanwhile, director Jake Schreier confessed that, when dealing with his misfit superheroes, who don't trust each other but 'must learn to work together' , he took unlikely inspiration from the difficult relationship in that film between villainous strawberry-scented bear Lotso and Sheriff Woody
'It's interesting to see what that pressure does to your brain because, at the end of the day, they are just people who happen to have superpowers.'
Meanwhile, director Jake Schreier confessed that, when dealing with his misfit superheroes, who don't trust each other but 'must learn to work together' , he took unlikely inspiration from another Disney film: Toy Story 3. And, in particular, the difficult relationship in that film between villainous strawberry-scented bear Lotso and Sheriff Woody.
Cannes braces for the ex-factor
Well, this is awkward. Not long after divorced couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie both attended the Venice Film Festival, while promoting separate projects, comes the news that Tom Cruise and his former wife Nicole Kidman are both going to be in Cannes this year.
Kidman, 57, is going to be honoured by the luxury group Kering — receiving the 2025 Women In Motion award from billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, the chairman and CEO of Kering (and Mr Salma Hayek).
Tom Cruise and his former wife Nicole Kidman are both going to be in Cannes this year
Meanwhile, Cruise will be in town for the premiere of his film Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.
Both actors favour the Hotel Martinez, which has two penthouse apartments. The kicker is that the apartments are adjoining … and have a connecting door. Shades of Noel Coward's Private Lives!
Kidman and Cruise were married from 1990 to 2001. When asked why they broke up (the official reason was 'irreconcilable differences'), Cruise said mysteriously: 'Nic knows why.'
A little corner of Surrey will be transformed into ...Narnia, as Greta Gerwig's
much-anticipated film series based on C. S. Lewis's beloved books starts shooting in the county soon. I'm told the first production is definitely called The Magician's Nephew, meaning that Gerwig is starting with Lewis's prequel novel to The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.
Meryl Streep is reportedly close to signing a deal to voice Aslan the Lion. Daniel Craig will play the magician of the title. And Sex Education's Emma Mackey is the White Witch. It's thought that she pipped The Substance's Margaret Qualley and singer Charli XCX to take the role. Mackey was previously in Gerwig's Barbie blockbuster.
The film is due in IMAX cinemas in November 2026 and will then stream on the small screen.
Ryan's Wrexham pad... in Mayfair
Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds already have a penthouse in Manhattan, and they're building a huge home in upstate New York. But I hear they're shopping for a 'lock up and leave' apartment in Mayfair.
The couple (pictured) reportedly considered buying a £1.5 million home in Wrexham when Reynolds first bought a stake in Wrexham AFC in 2021.
Blake Lively and husband Ryan Reynolds already have a penthouse in Manhattan, and they're building a huge home in upstate New York
But they aren't thought to have signed on the dotted line, and actually stay at Carden Park hotel when, as happened last week, they make a flying visit.
Now they've decided that, for reasons of privacy and security, they'd rather have a place in London and take a helicopter to Wales.
Estate agents say they're looking in the 'platinum triangle' of Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia. The budget is around $5 million.
Bear Hunt's chance of survival looks slim
Holly Willoughby was reportedly paid almost £1 million to host Celebrity Bear Hunt for Netflix, meaning she raked in something like £40,000 per minute on screen.
However, the gravy train seems to have hit the buffers, with the prestige show in limbo.
This time last year, celebs including Boris Becker and Mel B were already in the jungle in Costa Rica, being put through their paces by survival expert Bear Grylls.
Yet, although ratings were healthy initially, the show fell short of being a smash hit – and Netflix is not rushing back for a second helping.
The producers and crew involved last year are all engaged on other projects now, and I hear that a return to the format is, at the very least, delayed, if not off altogether.
Holly Willoughby was reportedly paid almost £1 million to host Celebrity Bear Hunt for Netflix, meaning she raked in something like £40,000 per minute on screen
Netflix did not respond to requests for comment. But a source said: 'About a month ago I heard it was in the balance. The ratings were not that great and the show cost an absolute fortune to make.
'There were meetings about how it could be made for less, how the budgets might be cut, but it does cost a fortune to fly celebrities somewhere remote for a whole month, and look after them.'
There was high drama on the show, which first aired in February, when interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen became tangled in some ropes while rafting, lost consciousness, and had to be revived on the beach by Grylls.
Llewelyn-Bowen said: 'I had a nasty moment where I was actually blacked out on the beach and I came to and I saw this beautiful blonde with sunlight behind her … and luckily it was Holly!
'When she leaned forward and said: 'You alright, Laurence?' I knew it was Holly ... but if the angel Gabriel looks anything like Holly Willoughby, I think the angel Gabriel is gonna be very chuffed.'
