Rami Malek, who won the Best Actor Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody, is in final negotiations to play the antagonist in the latest installment of the James Bond franchise. Malek is set to join the much-delayed new 007 film, which is due to start shooting in April.
The film will be directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, who came on board as a director after Danny Boyle exited the project over "creative differences". It is also thought that Boyle clashed with producers over his plan to cast Cold War star Tomasz Kot as the lead villain.
The ethnic identity of the villian is not known yet. Malek, both of whose parents emigrated from Egypt to the US, is known to reject roles that portray “Arabs or Middle Easterners in a negative light” after a bad experience on the TV series 24.
It had been reported earlier that Malek was being eyed for the villain's role, but his schedule on the last season of his breakout show Mr. Robot, which shoots from March through July, was a hindrance.
According to Collider, the actor's team has successfully managed his shooting schedule to accommodate the Bond film. The yet-untitled film will mark Daniel Craig's fifth and possibly the last outing as the famed British spy.
Actor Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw will also reprise their roles in the new film. French star Lea Seydoux, who played psychologist Madeleine Swann in Sam Mendes' Spectre, is also returning.
MGM will distribute the film in partnership with Annapurna Pictures. The film’s release date has been pushed back to April 2020 amid reports of extensive script rewrites. Bourne Ultimatum writer Scott Z Burns has been hired to rework the screenplay.
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