If you think you know who all has been cast in the upcoming twenty-third installment of the James Bond franchise, director Sam Mendes has a surprise for you. It is being reported in the British tabloid press that acting legend Albert Finney will be playing a part in the upcoming, untitled film.
Supposedly, Mendes kept Finney’s participation a secret and unveiled it to cast members earlier this week when they sat down to perform the first read through of the screenplay.
According to the Daily Mail, Finney will be playing an official in the British government’s Foreign Office who oversees the British Intelligence Services. Basically he will be the boss of James Bond’s boss “M,” played by Dame Judi Dench. Interestingly, even though both Finney and Dench share much of th same acting background, they have never been in any production together before this. It should be great to see such two acting stalwarts going back and forth.
Now remember that this is the Daily Mail reporting this, so standard British tabloid disclaimers apply. But so far there has been no denial from the franchise producers Eon Productions, so I’m going to hesitantly state that this is probably on the up-and-up.
Bond 23 is set start filming sometime next week and will be released in November 2012.
