‘Bond 24’ Title and Cast to be Announced on Thursday

When ‘Casino Royale’ was released in 2006, the James Bond series officially exhausted the backlog of old Ian Fleming titles with any cinematic potential. So now, with each new entry in the series, we wait with bated breath for the title announcement. Will it be something mysterious and resonant like ‘Skyfall’? Or a jumble of words torn kicking and screaming from Fleming’s backlog like ‘Quantum of Solace’? Surely they won’t actually call the next Bond movie ‘The Hildebrand Rarity,’ right?

EON Productions knows how obsessive fans are about every detail of every new 007 film, so they make these title announcements into genuine events. Which brings us to the news of the day: Clear your schedules on Thursday, Bond fanatics, because the press conference announcing the actual title of ‘Bond 24’ and the official cast is coming your way.

The announcement is set for December 4, 2014 (that’s this Thursday) and you will be able to watch it for yourself on 007.com. If you happen to live in England, the announcement will come at the sensible hour of 3PM GMT. If you’re American, you will either need to wake up early or stay up late, since that translates to 6AM on the east coast and 3AM on the west coast.

Although the exact details of the event remain under wraps, we expect that the announcement will officially confirm the involvement of Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, and Dave Bautista, each of whom have been rumored cast members for some time now. As for the title itself, we can only speculate blindly. Unless director Sam Mendes and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are going to start stealing titles from non-Fleming James Bond novels (because there’s no way they’re calling this thing ‘Risico’), the title will probably be something completely unique and made up just for this particular story. Or it could be something so bland that it can apply to just about any Bond movie, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ or ‘The World is Not Enough’-style.

Here’s your handy list of things to note as you watch the press conference:

-The film will mark the fourth time Daniel Craig has played Bond, but his supporting cast from ‘Skyfall’ will actually return this time around. Expect to hear Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Ben Whishaw’s names as part of the announcement.

-According to Internet and tabloid rumors, Waltz will revealed to be playing an old ally of Bond’s family, but that is a lie to distract everyone from the fact that he’s actually playing the latest incarnation of Blofeld, the arch-nemesis of the entire series. If this is/was the case, it’ll be interesting to see if EON still tries to cover it up or if they’ll just forego the ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ shenanigans and tell the truth.

-Former wrestler Dave Bautista is supposedly playing the main henchman of the film and he probably nabbed the role after stealing so many scenes in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ Who saw this career resurgence coming?

Anyway, ‘Bond 24’ is set to go before cameras the Monday after the announcement, on December 8, 2014. The film itself is scheduled to open in theaters on November 6, 2015. Don’t expect it to be titled ‘The Property of a Lady.’