More hints that Eva Green will return in Bond 22

06-Nov-2006 • Quantum Of Solace

For many years, any woman who tangled with James Bond either died a grisly death or was forgotten as soon as the British superspy received orders for his next mission - reports The Australian.

But the era of the Bond girl as a one-night stand will end on November 14, when Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green, makes the first of two appearances in the film series.

Eon Productions, which owns the Bond film franchise, has suggested that Green's character will return in Casino Royale's sequel, which has the temporary title of Bond 22. It's the first time in recent history that one of the spy's love interests has featured in more than one film.

Green, who co-starred with Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven, is expected to appear as a pre-recorded video message transmitted over the internet.

Barbara Broccoli, the daughter of Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and co-producer of the Bond series since Goldeneye, has said Bond 22 will continue where Casino Royale left off. "We're already thinking about the sequel," she said. "We're in the early stages. It is an original story, but it's going to continue part of what the story is in this film."

Vesper Lynd's survival in Bond's affections is an admission that Bond girls are more than just disposable eye candy. Despite a trend for stronger female characters in the past four films, only one other love interest has appeared twice. Sylvia Trench, who meets Bond in Dr No, is shown having a picnic with the spy at the beginning of From Russia With Love, but she is immediately abandoned and never seen again.

Trench, played by Eunice Gayson, is one of Bond's luckier sexual partners. Twelve out of his 40 women have been killed, usually in a grisly manner.

Less fortunate women include May Day in A View to a Kill, who is blown up by a bomb on a mine cart, and Jill Masterson, who suffocates after being painted with gold in Goldfinger. Other females are savaged by dogs or fatally sliced by a razor-lined hat.

A spokeswoman for Eon said the only actors confirmed for Bond 22 were Daniel Craig, as Bond, and Judi Dench, as the spy chief, M.

"You could speculate that Green would need to have part in it because there are things that need to be explained, but we haven't made any casting decisions," she said. According to mi6-hq.com, a James Bond website, Green has a clause in her contract that gives her the option to return to the series.

The French-born Green trained in Paris and London, and was spotted by Bernardo Bertolucci, who cast her in The Dreamers in 2003.

Playing a Bond girl is considered a career risk because most have faded into obscurity after their film is released.