Good choice, if chosen.
All the above is what our fandom is about and very diverse and collectively observant. Creative too.
13 weeks outâŚ" And COUNTINGâŚ" (couldnât resist)
Speculations, hopes, theories and dreams aside, hereâs where weâre at.
HmmmâŚ
Fine. I can clear my schedule.
Iâll direct Bond 25. Eon can pay me what they think is fair when we wrap. 
I find this fascinating in the fact that, either the script is flexible In the nationality of the villain, or there really is two scripts in play and they havenât chosen which one yet.
well if weâre talking spielberg then count me in, sir! Love to see his bond 
The man wanted Haley Joel Osment as Harry Potter and wanted Shia Le Bouef cast in a film. Twice. Iâd be cautious as Iâve found Spielberg is a bit like Russian roulette in terms of occasionally firing out something we REALLY couldâve done without.
It certainly does shed some more light on those âcreative differencesâ. At first it sounded like they couldnât agree on an actor but now it seems like they canât even agree on the characterâs nationality. Since it was reportedly Boyle/ Hodge who introduced the Russian angle then this does sound like a case of a director and producer who werenât on the same page.
Thereâs a more in depth report here:
Taghmaoui appears to be a more contemplative, less physical choice than the, IMO at least, brutal force of Kot.
From what Iâve seen of the guy, I think heâd be a good choice. He could be charming and brutal.
Interesting! Iâm surprised EON didnât swear him to utmost secrecy. Unless heâs changed his mind and is looking to be let goâŚ
Looks like we were wrong to interpret the casting rumours as indicative of Boyle wanting to emphasise the Russian/Cold War themes. Based on this interview, it seems Boyle wanted a Middle Eastern villain.
Perhaps if Eon are uncertain about things, then allowing him to reveal this could give them some reaction data via newspaper and website commentary and of course forums such as this.
We are, I feel, getting closer to an announcement. I think he would be a great shout , I have enjoyed his work since La Haine and Three Kings.
Taghmaoui Is a decent actor and would no doubt deliver as well as the script allows and then some. I just worry that weâre getting yet another generic flavour of the day middle eastern villain; they seem to be the goto bad guys right now.
At least with Kot heâs not such an obvious choice for such a villain (and he seems to be well reviewed in Cold War).
Also, how does a middle eastern villain figure in a YOLT adaptation? Of course it may have nothing to with YOLT except in working title only, but I hope itâs more than that. Could they be changing the setting from Japan? Making Shatterhand a new character instead of an altered Blofeld?
Then again Taghmaoui is a similar build to Waltz so could that be why Eon preferred him to the taller Kot? A more plausible Blofeld post surgery? Would that be too similar to DADs face change story?
I donât know that Shatterhand rumour should be taken as fact just yet - that name comes up every time a new Bond movie is on the way, so unless something new has surfaced, i wouldnt expect 25 to be the You Only Live Twice retelling weâve been waiting for
As I see in that article, it was Boyle who cast him. Maybe Kot was up for another role.
Agreed. âShatterhandâ will probably just be EON´s âBlue Harvestâ.
Thatâs what I keep saying.
I always thought The Death Collector, mentioned many times by others and one of the chapters from YOLT, was a good title choice for Bond 25.
Still, I really donât get it. I assumed when Eon hired Boyle because of his supposedly great idea for the movie, they talked out every aspect of the plot. Including main villainâs nationality. I cannot believe that at this point theyâd go to him and say âDanny, weâve changed our minds. It must be Russian, not Middle Eastern guy (or vice versa)â. Or is it possible?
Perhaps the âgreat ideaâ was a consequence of an action Bond does or doesnât follow through on, and not the actual plot itself? Just a guess on my part.