With a title that evokes the tradition of James Bond movies like Goldfinger, Thunderball, Moonraker, and GoldenEye -- but not Quantum of Solace -- the long-delayed 23rd 007 movie was officially launched at a London news conference today (Thursday). It will be called Skyfall , director Sam Mendes announced, and its stars will include Daniel Craig (returning as Bond -- James Bond), Albert Finney, Ralph Fiennes, Judi Dench, and Javier Bardem. The latter two actors, along with Craig, attended the news conference at which producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson blamed the delay between the 22nd and 23rd Bond movies on MGM's financial problems but insisted that rumors that the movie's budget had been slashed were untrue. Said Wilson, "We're in the same budget range as the last film. We haven't had to change anything in The Script. In fact, we keep adding things." The producers said that production is now set to get underway in the Whitehall section of London on Monday. Other locations include Turkey (Istanbul), China (Shanghai), and Scotland (but there was no mention of that country's most famous actor). When asked whether Craig and Bardem would be going shirtless for the new movie, Broccoli responded, "Damn right!" And Craig, who appeared to have aged noticeably since Solace , interjected, "That's the gig." Little else was revealed about the movie. "It, I think, has all the elements of a classic Bond movie," Mendes said, "including, to quell any rumors, a lot of action."

03/11/2011