Today it was claimed in industry publication Production Weekly that the 25th movie in the James Bond series – and seemingly the fifth and final 007 caper for leading man Daniel Craig – has the working title of Shatterhand. It’s not the first time the film has been linked to that name, and it’s important to stress that it’s not an officially announced name for the upcoming movie. But if it is the working title, and it is a sign of things to come, what could it mean?
In Ian Fleming’s 1964 novel You Only Live Twice, Shatterhand is the alias of Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Christoph Waltz’s character was ultimately revealed to be Blofeld in 2015’s Spectre; the most recent Bond outing.
He’s arrested by MI6 at the end of the film – so could Waltz make a comeback in Bond 26?
Back in October 2017, Waltz said he wouldn’t – but a lot has changed since then.
For a start, the script is rumoured to have changed multiple times; and now Scott Z Burns has stepped in to give it another reworking.
Plus the production dates have changed over the last year; so if Waltz’s initial reluctance was down to availability issues, they may now be resolved.
In any case, he said at the time: “No, I’m sorry. I’m really sad, but that’s the tradition, that there is a new… name.”
But tellingly, he added: “Sorry. I would’ve liked to.”
This is, of course, all speculation at this point. If Shatterhand is, as it seems, the working title for Bond 25, it may not end up having any relevance at all to the plans for the plot.
For now, all we know is that the film has had its release date pushed back to April 2020, a delay of almost two months compared to its previous Valentine’s Day due date.
Today it has been alleged that producers are keen to have Lupita Nyong’o on board as Craig’s co-star.
Meanwhile speculation continues as to who could replace Craig after this film. See all the apparent contenders here.
James Bond 25 is out on April 8, 2020.