Ever since 1962, when Dr No hit the screens James Bond movies have been captivating audiences worldwide. Over the years we’ve seen some very different interpretations of the spy by Sean Connery, Roger Moore and even the one-film-wonder George Lazenby but for many Daniel Craig has been the quintessential Bond.

So it was with some disappointment that the world heard that after Spectre he announced that he’d “rather slit his wrists” than play the character again. The filmmakers weren’t going to take this lying down, though. After all he had starred in the most successful Bond movie ever, Skyfall, which took a reported $943 million at the box office. As a result, rumours have been circulating that he’s been offered $150 million in a two-film deal and he is definitely signed up for at least one more outing.

So what do we know about the next film? Well there’s lots of speculation and the project is shrouded in MI6-style secrecy but here’s what what’s circulating so far.

The title

It’s thought that the working title of the film at the moment is Shatterhand. This would certainly be in line with the last two films, Skyfall and Spectre, and would create a neat trilogy of single-word titles beginning with ‘S’. It’s also thought that the writers will be Neil Purvis and Robert Wade who have been involved in the scripts for all of the Bonds since The World Is Not Enough.

The plot

Again, there are rumours circulating that a key element of the plot will be that Bond marries Madeleine Swann, the female lead character in Spectre. It’s thought she will be tragically murdered and Bond will spend much of the film trying to avenge her death. Whether bigger global issues will intrude no-one knows but the actual state of geopolitics today means the filmmakers should find it all but impossible to ignore them.

The cast

So it’s certain that Craig will be back, and almost certain that Léa Seydoux will be back as Swann. The franchise has also featured a regular trio of supporting characters including Ben Whishaw as Q, Ralph Fiennes as the post-Judi Dench M and Naomie Harris as Moneypenny so we can probably expect them to make an appearance as well.

As to who the villain will be, there have been reports that we haven’t seen the last of Blofeld played by Christoph Waltz.

Locations

The glamorous backdrops to all of the films are almost like another character in each movie and for this one Dubrovnik in Croatia is said to be a key location. Whether it will be somewhere Bond can show off his casino strategies and skills or tear around its streets in a super-charged Aston Martin we’ll only know when the film is released.

The director

One thing that’s for certain is that Sam Mendes won’t be back. There are currently three directors in the frame, Christopher Nolan, David Mackenzie and Yann Demange. All have great track records and are qualified for the job so again we’ll just have to wait and see.

Of course, we’ll find out all this and more long before the film’s projected release in November 2019 – but it won’t be until then that we discover whether the 27th film in the franchise is going to leave us both shaken and stirred  – and the world just can’t wait to find out!