Now that the next installment in the long lived James Bond franchise has a director, it's time to talk casting.

That means "Bond Girls."  It seems Bond 24, as we're calling it, has found its first heart-stoppingly beautiful woman in Penelope Cruz.

Who will make the next James Bond movie just the way audiences like it? 

The only sure answer to that question up until now was "Not Sam Mendes," but now it appears that the answer is, in fact, "Sam Mendes."  Having previously declined the offer to direct Bond 24, the Oscar-winner has had a change of heart and is reportedly in talks to make his second consecutive 007 adventure.

With Skyfall, Sam Mendes proved emphatically that he can deliver a slick, big budget franchise picture that satisfies both fans and outsiders alike.  Having delivered the biggest entry in the fifty year-old James Bond franchise with the twenty-third official entry, though, Mendes has opted not to return for Bond 24.

Prior to the release of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Sony Pictures was looking quite bullish about a trilogy of films based on the bestselling Millennium Trilogy by the late the late Swedish novelist and journalist Stieg Larsson.  Director David Fincher's adaptation of the first book dropped well over a year ago and progress on the sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, has been slower than anticipated.

So what gives?

The latest adventure of James Bond certainly did its part to keep Ian Fleming's superspy alive.  Skyfall is probably still playing at a theater relatively near you, still adding to its $1 billion global haul and gaining more accolades from moviegoers blinding by the slickness of Roger Deakins' gorgeous cinematography.

The exceedingly pretty pictures of Skyfall will be legally available to play on smaller screens this February.

Hey Rogues and Roguettes, how about a handpicked compilation of some of a favorite fried gold IAR stories from the year that was 2012?

Well, here's something you don't see too often.  Five weekends since its wide release, Skyfall has reclaimed the number one spot at the domestic box office after spending three consecutive weeks in the commercial shadow of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2.

The weekend following the extended Thanksgiving break is never really gangbusters at multiplexes, but this year, it managed to exceed the corresponding frame last year by a solid 42%.  That upswing is attributable pretty much exclusively to holdovers, as the box office estimates show a top ten that looks very much like last weekend's, with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part, Skyfall, and Lincoln in first, second, and third place, respectively.

America, stuffed with turkey and satiated by a day of unbridled, frenzied shopping, apparently had time to get to the movies, as the five-day Thanksgiving window this year set an all-time record thanks largely to a very busy weekend.

The opening title sequence for Skyfall, the twenty-third cinematic adventure of James Bond, has arrived online to view free of charge and without those pesky titles and credits.