Blofeld is back!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2845621/You-weren-t-expecting-007-BLOFELD-S-Bond-having-kittens-evil-foe-returns-double-Oscar-winner-Christoph-Waltz-tipped-play-him.html

It’s been more than 30 years since James Bond faced evil Ernst Stavro Blofeld, his most feared adversary.

But now the intimidating baddie – famous for his trademark white cat and for gruesomely disposing of his failing underlings – is back. Django Unchained star Christoph Waltz is tipped to play the evil genius in a new 007 movie which is due to begin shooting next month.

The 58-year-old double Oscar-winner will join an elite band of stars who have previously played the role. Donald Pleasence starred as Bond’s nemesis in You Only Live Twice in 1967, followed by Kojak star Telly Savalas in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The smooth-voiced British actor Charles Gray took the part in Diamonds Are Forever in 1971.

Blofeld had previously featured in From Russia With Love in 1963, and in 1965’s Thunderball – but the character’s face was not shown and only his lower body was visible as he stroked his white Angora cat.

The villain made his last appearance in an ‘official’ Bond film in 1981 when he featured in For Your Eyes Only.

In a nail-biting opening scene Blofeld is hanging from an helicopter which is being piloted by Roger Moore’s James Bond.

The scene ends with Blofeld being dropped down a huge brick industrial chimney close to the River Thames in London.

Waltz’s involvement in the new film – which has the working title ‘Bond 24’ – will be confirmed at a press conference to be held in the first week of December. Eon productions, which owns the James Bond film franchise, will announce the star is playing an unknown character called Franz Oberhauser, son of the late Hans Oberhauser, a ski instructor who acted as a father figure to Bond.

But senior sources believe the casting is a double bluff worthy of 007 himself and that Waltz is actually playing Blofeld. One Hollywood source, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Christoph Waltz is playing Blofeld in the next Bond film. The tone of the 007 films has changed significantly in recent years and the producers have changed the character to fit in with the new-look 007.’

Blofeld’s return is now possible because of the settlement of a long-running legal dispute involving Eon Productions and the estate of the late Kevin McClory – a film producer and former friend of 007 author Ian Fleming – over who owns the right to the character and his evil empire SPECTRE.

Blofeld, who was also known as No 1, quickly established himself as the archetypal Bond villain when he made his big-screen debut in From Russia With Love. His sinister one-liners and increasingly ingenious methods of dispensing of his underlings made him an instant hit.

But Bond villains have an almost superhuman capacity to cheat death, and there was no close-up shot of Blofeld’s body when he was dropped down the chimney in For Your Eyes Only.

In any case, the character reappeared alive and well in the ‘unofficial’ Bond film Never Say Never Again when Max von Sydow played Blofeld.

The name of the villain was inspired by Thomas Blofeld, a schoolmate of Fleming at Eton. His son is Henry Blofeld, the cricket radio commentator.

Sources say the new Blofeld will be just as sinister as earlier incarnations but will be more sophisticated and less ‘campy’.

Blofeld remains one of the most popular villains in cinema history and his influence is obvious in the Austin Powers films which spoof the Bond franchise. Powers’s secret agent has to do battle with the bald headed Dr Evil and his cat Mr Bigglesworth.

Pre-production work on ‘Bond 24’ has already started in Austria, and Waltz’s co-stars will be Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes as spymaster M and Ben Whishaw as Q.

Michael G Wilson, who co-produces the Bond films with his half-sister Barbara Broccoli, last night declined to comment on the return of Blofeld. A spokeswoman for EON productions also declined to comment.

Six years ago, if you said this was going to happen, you would have been laughed out of the fucking room.

What a dream come true for Bond fans.

If this is true, then I hope they don't just shout out "HE'S BLOFELD!" five minutes after he is introduced. I hope they will instead have him as a secondary character, with Franz Oberhauser being some kind of informant so that they can play up Blofeld's backstory of playing both the Allies and the Axis off one another. Save the reveal for the final scene, like the epilogue of CR, with some kind of loose plot thread being explained as Blofeld's doing.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

If this is true, then I hope they don't just shout out "HE'S BLOFELD!" five minutes after he is introduced. I hope they will instead have him as a secondary character, with Franz Oberhauser being some kind of informant so that they can play up Blofeld's backstory of playing both the Allies and the Axis off one another. Save the reveal for the final scene, like the epilogue of CR, with some kind of loose plot thread being explained as Blofeld's doing.

Dude, stop speculating and start stroking your white Angora cat.

I'm a bit skeptical, since Baz Bamigboye's name isn't behind this 'leak'. That said, it would be amazing if true.

Hmm, it'll take more than cutting off his earlobes to be Blofeld.

Quote :

Waltz’s involvement in the new film – which has the working title ‘Bond 24’ – will be confirmed at a press conference to be held in the first week of December. Eon productions, which owns the James Bond film franchise, will announce the star is playing an unknown character called Franz Oberhauser, son of the late Hans Oberhauser, a ski instructor who acted as a father figure to Bond.

This is the bit I'm buying. As with SKYFALL the writers are still plundering the Fleming novels and short stories; in this case it's Octopussy.

As I guessed a few weeks ago...

Largo's Shark wrote:

Scuttlebutt is that it's a flashback to death of Bond's parents. My personal theory is that might be inspired by Ian Fleming's Octopussy - Major Dexter Smythe on the hunt for a cache of Nazi gold, and killing mountain guide/ski instructor Hans Oberhauser.

Hmm not sure how I feel about this, yet...

bitchcraft wrote:

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

If this is true, then I hope they don't just shout out "HE'S BLOFELD!" five minutes after he is introduced. I hope they will instead have him as a secondary character, with Franz Oberhauser being some kind of informant so that they can play up Blofeld's backstory of playing both the Allies and the Axis off one another. Save the reveal for the final scene, like the epilogue of CR, with some kind of loose plot thread being explained as Blofeld's doing.

Dude, stop speculating and start stroking your white Angora cat.

Is it really so bad that I want them to introduce the character properly?

They kinda did the reveal thing with Moneypenny though… And it was probably the flimsiest thing about SF.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

bitchcraft wrote:

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

If this is true, then I hope they don't just shout out "HE'S BLOFELD!" five minutes after he is introduced. I hope they will instead have him as a secondary character, with Franz Oberhauser being some kind of informant so that they can play up Blofeld's backstory of playing both the Allies and the Axis off one another. Save the reveal for the final scene, like the epilogue of CR, with some kind of loose plot thread being explained as Blofeld's doing.

Dude, stop speculating and start stroking your white Angora cat.

Is it really so bad that I want them to introduce the character properly?

I'm thinking if everyone knows he's going to be Blofeld...it becomes an anticlimax of sorts.

Especially if subtle hints are given along the way.

Maybe they'll dig up material from Fleming's Blofeld trilogy, especially from YOLT.

Does this mean a rehash of Bond-gets-married-but-Blofeld-fucks-it-up is inevitable?

Cool if true, would be nice to see a Blofeld with a bit of the flavour of those sinister early appearances.

BLOFELD: THE EARLY YEARS.

bitchcraft wrote:

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

bitchcraft wrote:

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

If this is true, then I hope they don't just shout out "HE'S BLOFELD!" five minutes after he is introduced. I hope they will instead have him as a secondary character, with Franz Oberhauser being some kind of informant so that they can play up Blofeld's backstory of playing both the Allies and the Axis off one another. Save the reveal for the final scene, like the epilogue of CR, with some kind of loose plot thread being explained as Blofeld's doing.

Dude, stop speculating and start stroking your white Angora cat.

Is it really so bad that I want them to introduce the character properly?

I'm thinking if everyone knows he's going to be Blofeld...it becomes an anticlimax of sorts.

Especially if subtle hints are given along the way.

That and I think it would be best to avoid the blunder that STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS made with the filmmakers trying to insist that Cumberbatch wasn't Khan, only he was, as everyone suspected the moment he was cast.

EON should let the cat out of the bag. His presence revealed from the get go will at least build hype. All they'd have to do is just not muck it up.

The writing was on the wall when EON acquired the rights last year. This is very good news for the franchise, which has been in-need of a truly great villain for some time now. It's certainly very exciting to see Blofeld back on the big screen, especially if they can create him in a way that honors how he is portrayed in the books and not make him into a cartoon or a caricature of his previous incarnations.

…which brings me to my concern with this….and that is the fact that I simply do not trust Purvis & Wade to re-invent such an iconic character. I hope Mendes can get the most out of these guys, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried. You'd think if EON wanted to bring such an important villain to cinema back into franchise, they could find someone, ANYONE, from a legion of capable writers who'd all be absolutely willing to do it. Instead, we're stuck with the same old guys, the status-quo. It's just frustrating that EON keeps going back to these guys after 15 years. Anyway... tangent over.

Couple things I find curious: The origninal plan was that B24 and B25 would be a two-part story, but Mendes later said that he felt "very strongly" that it should only be one part. I wonder how Blofeld works into that "revised" plan, since I highly doubt EON would go through the headache of obtaining the rights only to use Blofeld in one film. And on top of that, I believe Craig is only contracted for one film after this…so I wonder why they wouldn't wait until they cast a new Bond to re-introduce Blofeld in a way that allows him to be used in more than maybe two films (that's assuming Craig jumps ship after B25). It's also interesting that Mendes' first choice seemed to be Chiwetel Ejiofor, which would obviously have given us a black Blofeld. I like Ejiofor and he definitely would have been a great villain (thought he was great in Serenity), but I wonder how much of that was Mendes trying to come off as "progressive"…?

I guess will see how it all plays out.

It was confirmed during the release of SF that Craig was signed onto do two more, so Bond 25 will be his last. I don't think the two parter idea being nixed means Blofeld will appear in one film. I assume it will be much like the previous films and books that had Blofeld involved in consecutive stories.

They better bring back the pussy. I don't want a Blofeld so deep-gritty-21st-century that they leave out the pussy.

I thought the two part idea was thrown out the window a few months back.

Wonder how timmer finds this news...

dr. strangelove wrote:

It's also interesting that Mendes' first choice seemed to be Chiwetel Ejiofor, which would obviously have given us a black Blofeld. I like Ejiofor and he definitely would have been a great villain (thought he was great in Serenity), but I wonder how much of that was Mendes trying to come off as "progressive"…?

Could be that the first drafts of the script didn't have a specific name attached to the villain; that the villain was basically sort of interchangeable and eventually evolved to become Blofeld. I don't know.

What I do know is that we don't need a black Blofeld, otherwise it becomes the third white character in 4 Craig films to be completely recast and "re-imagined" with a black actor/actress. If EON wants to really be progressive, they could hire Tilda Swinton to play Blofeld. The series has never had a straight-out female villain as the lead; a character that you know is the main villain from the start, and for which there will be no romantic scenes with 007 and no confusion. I'd like to see a villainess that is treated just like a villain for whom Bond would have no romantic interest.

There's no value to having a black Blofeld at this point in history. We've had black villains, black Bond Girls, black allies....it's over. Done with.

There's also no value in being coy about who Waltz is playing, if he's indeed playing Blofeld. We went this route with Moneypenny, and as Python said, it was recently done with Cumberbatch playing Khan, and the whole time audiences were smart enough to figure out that throughout the whole production, they'd been lied to by everyone involved.

I've never seen anything with Christopher Waltz, so I can't comment on his worth to the series, but I am excited to see Blofeld coming back.

Depends on how you see FRWL, GS, but I always imagined Rosa Klebb to be the main villain. I do like the idea of Tilda Swinton playing a villain though - not Blofeld, but a villain.

Makeshift Python wrote:

It was confirmed during the release of SF that Craig was signed onto do two more, so Bond 25 will be his last. I don't think the two parter idea being nixed means Blofeld will appear in one film. I assume it will be much like the previous films and books that had Blofeld involved in consecutive stories.

Yeah, but Craig being done after B25 pretty much means that Waltz would be done after B25, as well. I doubt they'd keep Waltz after a new Bond is cast after Craig. It wouldn't make sense, similar to the the nonsense they pulled with Dench sticking around after DAD for no reason at all.

Is two films of Waltz Blofeld enough to due justice to the character?

Even though they recast, they had Blofeld for Connery and Lazenby (and arguably Moore).