Carice Van Houten In Valkyrie

How's your Dutch? If its okay, then check out some news on Carice van Houten joining the cast of Bryan Singer's Valkyrie. A great move for the future Bond girl and the director alike.

I'm assuming she'll be playing Nina von Satuffenberg, the wife of Tom Cruise's character. Here's her introduction:

INT. HOSPITAL - DAY TITLES: MUNICH, GERMANY - FIRST GENERAL MILITARY HOSPITAL. 21 APRIL 1943.

A fast clicking. Heels on linoleum. A beautiful, dignified woman keeps herself from running. She is:

NINA VON STAUFFENBERG (30), Stauffenberg’s wife and mother of his four children. Beside her is BERTHOLD VON STAUFFENBERG (38), Stauffenberg’s older brother.

They reach the door of a private hospital room just as A DOCTOR comes out. Awkward pause.

DOCTOR
You are Mrs. Stauffenberg?

NINA (gesturing to Berthold)
And the Colonel’s brother, Berthold.

DOCTOR
Perhaps before you see the Colonel we should go to my office and -

NINA
I will see my husband now.

The Doctor wants to argue but Nina’s eyes shut him down. He opens the door and they enter to find...

You'll have to see the film to find out. But hopefully that gives you an idea of who Nina is, what she is like.

I like this script very much, and I think van Houten can make a great deal of this role. I'm also pleased that she appears to still be on the table for Bond 22 because, whoever they have directing, whichever draft of the script they employ, van Houten is likely to be a genuine asset to the production.

The Hildebrand Rarity

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, erstwhile James Bond warhorses, appear to have let slip that, in fact, Fleming's short story The Hildebrand Rarity has been the key source for 'story elements' in the next film.

On the matter of Bond, the Carice van Houten story started here at film ick. Since it went wide, sneaking into just about every last corner of the international rumourweb, I had one more e-mail from my source. Simply, it said "Notice that there have been no denials from her people - or from Eon", or words to that effect (I've deleted it, unfortunately).

And indeed, I haven't seen a single denial from anyone.

The Next Bond Girl Is Dorothy Mills

Carice van Houten has signed on to play the lead role in Dorothy Mills. She's a doctor, and she suspects foul play in a strictly religious community that seems to mean people who live there are being denied necessary medical attention. Cracking starting point for a film.

According to whispers on the grapevine - a different vine in the the same vineyard that put Colin Salmon up-front for Bond a few years back - Carice van Houten is the current frontrunner for the lead female role in Risico. There's certainly been some back-office talk, but how advanced negotiations are, I have no idea.

You probably know van Houten from Black Book, but if you don't, here's a picture.