SKYFALL star Ben Whishaw has hinted that Bond 24 could begin production by the end of the year. The Hour actor, who played MI6’s new Q in last year’s action blockbuster, said that he and Daniel Craig will “probably be back together again in about ten months”. “Well, hopefully. Let’s hope so!” he told the Radio Times.
Whishaw also said that he hopes Q is more involved in the Skyfall follow-up and wants Sam Mendes to return to the director’s chair. Asked if there was any actor he’d like to see play James Bond when Craig’s tenure finished, Whishaw replied: “I know that he’s doing the next three so I’m not thinking beyond that. We’ve got to just get through those first.” It had previously been reported that Craig had signed up to play 007 in two further outings. Mendes is believed to be close to securing a deal to direct the franchise’s 24th instalment.  Meanwhile, a new James Bond novel, written by British novelist William Boyd, will be released on September 26, publishers Jonathan Cape announced Monday. The book, as yet untitled, is set in 1969 and features a 45-year-old Bond.
“1969. A veteran secret agent. A single mission. A licence to kill. James Bond returns,” readers are promised. The glamorous British spy’s creator Ian Fleming died in 1964 after writing 14 novels in the Bond series, but other authors have since kept the saga alive and the franchise has now sold more than 100 million books. The latest two novels were “Devil May Care” (2008) by Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver’s “Carte Blanche” in 2011.This year marks 60 years since Fleming’s first Bond novel, “Casino Royale”, was published in 1953.                                 –Agencies