Bond 25 hasn’t quite been in development purgatory, as the movie was always guaranteed to come out eventually. But it has been driving down a long and frustrating developmental road, after its release date was pushed back to 2020 and the search for a director took some Danny Boyle twists until the studio turned to Cary Fukunaga.
Fortunately fans of the secret agent can stop worrying about when they’ll see the film and focus on what it might be about. The movie should begin shooting soon, and the working title points to the return of a major villain with a fondness for cats.
In news we came across at The Guardian, the February newsletter for Production Weekly includes a listing for “Bond 25 w/t Shatterhand,” with the movie beginning filming on April 6. Even if Shatterhand is only the working title of the film and not the final name, it points to the return of classic Bond villain Blofeld, last played by Christoph Waltz in 2015’s Spectre.
“Shatterhand” has long been considered as a potential title for a James Bond movie, since Dr. Guntram Shatterhand was an alias used by Blofeld in Ian Fleming’s 1964 novel You Only Live Twice. The big screen Blofeld, who was arrested by MI6 in Spectre, was left scarred by 007’s exploding watch in the film. That gave him the classic facial scar and milky white eye made famous by Donald Pleasance’s portrayal decades prior.
Of course it’s possible that Shatterhand is only a working title designed to be a total misdirection by the studio. However, with Bond 25 being a major milestone for the franchise, and with it likely to be Daniel Craig’s last go with the role, it makes sense they’d want Bond to square off once more with his all-time nemesis. Plus, who doesn’t want to see Christoph Waltz playing an even crazier Blofeld with the baddie’s iconic look for an entire movie? That’s why we’d bet on this title being as revealing as it seems.
Which means we can ask the most important question about the movie yet: who will play Blofeld’s cat?
Images: Columbia Pictures
