New 007 film adds writer

June 19, 3:27 PMLA Asian American Movie ExaminerEd Moy

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MGM has announced this week that Peter Morgan, screenwriter on Frost/Nixon and The Queen, will join the Bond screenwriting team of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, both of whom worked on Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

Daniel Craig and Judi Dench are expected back in the 23rd Bond film.  It is slated for a 2011 theatrical release.

There have been no announcements made yet about who will direct or what the storyline will be though it is rumored that the film will be partially set in Afghanistan

However, a UK paper, The Guardian, reports that actor Michael Sheen, who has collaborated in the past with Morgan on Frost/Nixon and The Queen, is in negotiations to play Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the upcoming Bond film.

The Blofeld character is the head of SPECTRE and has appeared in six previous James Bond films: From Russia with Love (1963), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and his final appearance is the pre-title teaser featured in For Your Eyes Only (1981). He also appeared in Never Say Never Again, the 1983 remake of Thunderball, which makes him the most recurrent James Bond nemesis.

The character was interpreted by a variety of actors, including Anthony Dawson (uncredited), Eric Pohlmann (voice, uncredited), Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, Charles Gray, John Hollis (uncredited), Robert Rietty (voice, uncredited) and Max von Sydow.

Famous for his scarred face and shaved head, Blofeld was most often introduced in early Bond outings with a close-up shot of a white Persian cat sitting on his lap.  Blofeld served as the inspiration for Mike Myer's Dr. Evil character in the Austin Powers films.