For the past five years or so, the most boring James Bond rumors involve the “Bond Girls.” I actually think the Daniel Craig era of Bond movies has been pretty sucky for Bond Girls. There was Eva Green in Casino Royale and she was great, but the rest of them? Eh. They actually made Gemma Arterton look LESS hot than she is in real life. So, the new Bond film is just going by “Bond 24” these days, but the script and the casting is coming together. Apparently, they start filming in six weeks, roughly the end of November/early December. And there’s news on the Bond Girl: French actress Lea Seydoux!

French actress Lea Seydoux will be bringing some heat to the next Bond film. She has signed up to play the femme fatale in the new 007 adventure, which starts filming in six weeks. The Paris-based star will meet fellow cast members, led by Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris, for a script rehearsal in late November. Before then, she will undergo a series of costume, make-up and camera tests so that director Sam Mendes and the film’s producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson can determine her ‘look’.

Ms Seydoux has appeared in many French-language films, including the brilliant Cannes prize winner Blue Is The Warmest Colour. Last year’s Cannes jury, which included Steven Spielberg and Nicole Kidman, were so knocked out by Seydoux and her co-star Adele Exarchopoulos’s performances as lovers that they insisted the actresses share the Palme d’Or (the festival’s highest honour) with director Abdellatif Kechiche. Seydoux also appeared in Mission Impossible: Ghost Patrol and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

The Bond 24 storyline originally called for an actress of Scandinavian origin, but that idea was dropped for one with French ooh-la-la. There will also be an Italian connection — the 007 crew have scooted over to Rome to look for some Bond heavies.

[From The Daily Mail]

Lea is a beauty and I’ve already been paying attention to her career. I actually wanted to put her together (in real life) with Robert Pattinson. I thought they would be hot together. She’s not as jailbaity as you might think too – she’s 29 years old. Daniel is 46. It’s still a significant age different, but hey, at least she’s not 22.

Infinitely more interesting to me are the rumors about the Bond villain. Back in April, “sources” claimed that Chiwetel Ejiofor was definitely getting approached to play the villain. Nowadays, there are rumors about Mark Strong as the villain. For what it’s worth, I kind of think Chiwetel should hold out for JAMES BOND rather than the villain, but he would be great in a villainous role (he hasn’t played many villains in his career). Mark Strong was practically begging for the villain role in a recent interview though. So maybe it will go to the guy who really wants it.

Oh, and there are rumors that Rihanna will sing the Bond song and that she’ll make a cameo in the film too.

Photos courtesy of WENN.