Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing after reading that headline: "Ryan Phillippe? In a Viking epic?" Is someone playing a cruel joke, or is this thin-as-tissue-paper pretty boy really going to try to pull off playing a tough-as-nails Viking? Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it would appear as if the latter is indeed true -- Phillippe, Sean Bean and Abbie Cornish have signed on to star in writer-director Menno Meyjes' Viking tale Last Battle Dreamer. HR describes Phillippe's role as being a "seventh-century Viking warrior named Thorfinn (sorry, I need to pause for a chuckle ... carry on ... ) who, along with his older brother, the battle-scarred Hakon (Bean), invades Britain." Maybe I'm totally mis-judging the guy (and, to be fair, I've sort of warmed up to Phillippe over the past two years), but no part of me sees him playing "a seventh-century Viking warrior."

But I digress. Bean and Cornish, on the other hand, I'm really starting to dig. I can certainly see them starring in a film like this, which Meyjes says is "a love story written in fire and blood." Back when this film was first announced, Variety said Meyjes was looking for an American to star as the Viking and a British woman to co-star as the noblewoman with which our heroic Viking falls for. Monika suggested Brad Pitt for the role. Well, I guess they're both blondes. Phillippe and Cornish will also star alongside one another in the upcoming Stop Loss, while Meyjes (who's completing post production on his matador biopic Manolete) has the John Cusack flick Martian Child (a film in which practically everyone at Cinematical wanted to review for some reason) due out this October, courtesy of New Line.

Abbie Cornish's agent has come out and publicly refuted the story that's been circulating that Cornish has sewn up the leading lady role in the next Bond film. This sounds like a complete non-story to me, since we pretty much knew that already. Last time I checked, major casting deals aren't usually announced through the Rose Byrne Tribune. "I can tell you that information is not accurate," agent Belinda Maxwell told the Sydney Morning Herald, clearly speaking to the idea a deal is completely locked up. The only other quote from Maxwell is a reiteration of that first, careful statement: "Well, I can reiterate that that's not accurate information." In other words, she's choosing to stay within the bounds of the obvious -- that her client hasn't signed on any dotted line. I'm a van Houtenite, not a Cornite, so any news that puts distance between Cornish and this part is good news to me.

In other Bond news, Commanderbond.net is linking to some details on the upcoming fourth Young Bond novel, which will be titled Hurricane Gold. This one is set in and around Mexico, and has the young hero finding himself on an island that's a "safe haven for criminals." The name of the Bond Girl in this one will be Precious Stone, which sounds kind of lame to me. Couldn't they have come up with something better? Anyway, the book is set to be published in September of this year, but I'm not sure if that's U.K. or worldwide. Stay tuned to Cinematical as we continue to report on all things Bond-related.

Is it bad that I just got around to seeing Casino Royale for the first time a couple weeks ago? Lame, I know, but I needed to work up to it in my Netflix queue. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved it and anticipate Bond 22 just as much -- if not more than -- my fellow Cinematical writers. As was the case in the months leading up to Casino Royale, most of the talk revolved around who would be cast as the next Bond girl. Things came right down the wire last time, with Eva Green and Caterina Murino landing major roles. This time around, the list of female contenders became available almost immediately after Royale left theaters. Sticking with that somewhat exotic, unfamiliar vibe, names like Carice van Houten, Abbie Cornish and Rose Byrne were being thrown around. And the most concrete rumor came in the form of an Aussie scoop that claimed Cornish had flew to Singapore to meet with producers about the role. Since then, nada.

Now, however, MTV is reporting that Rose Byrne may have let slip some major casting information during a recent interview with the actress. When they asked her whether she was up for the Bond girl role, the gal denied it but said: "I think Abbie Cornish's got it." Byrne and Cornish are both Aussies, but they're also friends -- which means it's quite likely that one would know which roles the other had landed. If Cornish has landed the role, there's a good chance negotiations are still ongoing and we won't hear about it for a little while. Cornish is known for going both brunette (A Good Year) and blonde (Candy, Somersault) in her roles, but I personally would like to see some blonde on blonde action between her and Daniel Craig. What about you?

Bonus trivia question: Name the last film that featured a blonde Bond girl?