James Bond film title to be announced

The title and cast of the 23rd James Bond film is expected to be announced in London later.

The latest 007 adventure will star Daniel Craig for the third time. It is being directed by Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for 1999's American Beauty.

The film - widely rumoured to be titled Skyfall - will be released on 9 November 2012.

Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem has confirmed he will play a villain in the new film.

Dame Judi Dench is expected to return as M and earlier this year, Pirates of the Caribbean actress Naomie Harris revealed she had also auditioned for the new film.

Financial troubles

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Bond movie, 1962's Dr No.

Much speculation about the new film has focused on what Mendes will bring to the franchise, with some suggesting he will tone down - or even abandon altogether - the action sequences.

That is unlikely, according to 007 expert Professor James Chapman, Director of Film Studies at the University of Leicester.

"They are not going to turn Bond into George Smiley," said the author of Licence To Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films.

"Bond films are genre movies, and with genre movies you can't afford to disappoint the expectations of your audience.

"Tinker Tailor Solder Spy was so successful, precisely because it wasn't Bond. You wouldn't go to watch a John le Carre adaptation expecting lots of car chases."

James Bond is one of the longest-running franchises in film history, but Bond 23 will mark the end of a four year gap.

The last 007 outing was in 2008's Quantum of Solace, directed by Marc Forster.

Work on the 23rd film was suspended in April 2010 because of uncertainty over the company's future.

The franchise had been on hold amid financial troubles, with MGM filing for bankruptcy protection last November.

A rescue deal and restructuring plan put US firm Spyglass Entertainment at the helm of MGM, which had struggled due to several box office flops and a DVD sales slump.

Producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and MGM have said production for the next Bond will begin in late 2011.

Craig - who made his Bond debut in Casino Royale in 2006 - is the sixth actor to play the British secret agent in the official Bond series.

Sir Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Sir Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan preceded him in the iconic role.

Casino Royale, was the most successful instalment in the franchise's 49-year history, making $594m (£385m) worldwide.