Chiwetel Ejiofor Could Be Next Bond Villain; Two Bond Girls Sought

After years of many people saying Chiwetel Ejiofor was a future star, he finally made it last year with his Oscar-nominated performance in 12 Years a Slave. And that has opened up a lot of doors, especially with rumors that he could be in the next Star Wars film. But now a new opportunity could be on the horizon, one that would see him join the long-running James Bond franchise.

According to Variety, Sony and MGM are eying Ejiofor as the main villain in Bond 24. It doesn't seem as if any offers have been made yet, but he is their top choice assuming any scheduling problems can be ironed out. It wouldn't be his first time as a bad guy, either, as he stalked the Firefly crew in Serenity and challenged Clive Owen in Children of Men. He'd certainly be a worthy successor to the excellent Javier Bardem in Skyfall. I've got mixed emotions about this, only because a small part of me thought Ejiofor would make a pretty good Bond down the line, and this would likely disqualify him.

And with casting on the upswing, the search for two Bond girls has begun, one British and one Scandinavian. According to Aftonbladet, via our friends over at Bleeding Cool, Ida Engvoll and Disa Östrand have already tested for the roles. Neither has been in anything of note here in the States, but a look at their photos gives a pretty good idea why they may be in consideration.

Sam Mendes is back to direct Bond 24 from a John Logan script, with Daniel Craig, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Whishaw all returning. Look for it to open on November 6th 2015.