Will Monica Bellucci Return as ‘Bond Girl’ Along With Daniel Craig?
By Nick Vivarelli @NickVivarelli Nick Vivarelli

Now that Daniel Craig is back as Bond, will Monica Bellucci be back as his “girl”?

Bellucci is being coy about rumors that Craig wants her to reprise her role from the last Bond outing, “Spectre,” in the new installment of the franchise. Bellucci’s agent told Variety on Wednesday that the actress is neither confirming nor denying rumors that she might appear in the 25th film to feature the suave super-spy, which is scheduled to hit theaters in 2019.

On Tuesday evening in Rome, where she was feted with the Virna Lisi lifetime achievement award, Bellucci smiled at reporters who asked her to comment on the rumors, telling them: “I can’t say anything.”

Bellucci’s appearance as one of two “Bond girls” in “Spectre” made a splash in 2015 when she was dubbed the oldest Bond girl ever at 51. Four years older than Craig, she made it clear at the time that she did not like the epithet. “I can’t say I’m a Bond girl because I’m too mature to be a Bond girl,” she told the Guardian newspaper. “I say ‘Bond lady,’ ‘Bond woman.'”

Variety praised Bellucci’s performance in “Spectre,” lamenting that she had been “underused” in her role as Lucia Sciarra, the widow of an infamous Italian assassin. Other critics have also said that Bellucci was not given enough screen time in the film.

Craig, the second-longest-serving 007 after the late Roger Moore, announced in August that he would be playing the iconic role for a fifth time, despite saying earlier that he did not want to make another Bond film. “White Boy Rick” director Yann Demange is reportedly the front-runner to direct Bond 25, which Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Eon Productions will produce. The screenplay is by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who also penned “Casino Royale,” “Quantum of Solace,” “Skyfall” and “Spectre.”

Bellucci will next appear in Australian sci-fi horror film “Nekromancer,” directed by brothers Kiah and Tristan Roach-Turner. It will be her first role as a “truly evil” character, she is quoted as saying.

EXCLUSIVE: In a move sure to make the Lion purr, MGM and Annapurna are thisclose to announcing they will team on the domestic release of the next James Bond movie. This all should be finalized this week, and rumors are flying today. This follows the announcement that MGM was joining forces with Annapurna in a joint venture, and the way this 007 deal will work is MGM’s Gary Barber and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are calling the shots, with Erik Lomis executing the domestic distribution and Marc Weinstock the marketing for the domestic release. While some might be surprised the historically conservative producers would entrust the crown jewel to a relative newcomer like Annapurna, Lomis worked on the distribution of Bond films before at MGM, and Weinstock marketed two of them while at Sony Pictures.

However, on this occasion, TWO different sources , one from the United States and the other from the United Kingdom tell us that Nolan will be the director and that he is already working on the film. These solid sources foresee that the official announcement can be made in January or February 2018 .