The cast of the 24th James Bond film Spectre was announced on Thursday morning, with former WWE Superstar Batista landing the role of Mr. Hinx. A casting call for the role described Hinx as:
“Ideally over 6? 2?. Hinx is the main henchman/assassin. We are looking for an imposing extremely physically fit actor. He has several fights with Bond and will have to have stunt training. He has to drive. We are looking for someone very unusual, possibly from a sports background.”
Spectre, which is scheduled to be released October 23rd, 2015 in the U.K. and November November 6th, 2015 the U.S , begins shooting tomorrow at Pinewood Studios in England. Additional shooting is scheduled for Austria, Rome and possibly Morocco.
– John Cena tweeted the following on Wednesday in reaction to Steve Austin’s podcast interview with Vince McMahon from Monday night on the WWE Network:
– The cast for the new James Bond film will be officially announced this Thursday. As previously reported, former WWE Superstar Dave Bautista has been in discussions for a major role in the film.
– Challenger Comics in Chicago announced that former WWE champion CM Punk will be signing at their store on 2/28/15. Punk will be there to promote his comic book writing debut for Marvel Comics, Thor Annual #1.
– Below is the latest edition of Eden’s video blog, which features the NXT Diva giving fans a tour of Glasgow, Scotland.
– WWE will air the documentary portion of the latest Batista DVD this coming Thursday on the WWE Network. The description for the show reads as follows:
“Follow Batista’s path from the struggles that drove him away from WWE to his triumphant return in 2014.”
– 2K Sports is running a social media promotion for their WWE Super Card mobile game, pitting some of the baddest WWE legends squaring off in various dream matches.
To commemorate #Brocktober, in honor of WWE’s reigning heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar, the Beast has been pitted against Hulk Hogan (who he wrestled back in 2002) and Andre The Giant. Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle website has published videos of these simulated matches, which you can view here: Brock vs. Andre | Brock vs. Hogan.
WWE Super Card is available free for download in the Apple, Android and Windowds mobile app stores.
– WWE.com has published a statement addressing reports Batista will be appearing in the next James Bond movie:
“Unconfirmed reports indicate that The Animal is in negotiations to star as the villain Hinx opposite Daniel Craig’s 007 in the next installment of the legendary franchise. According to casting reports, the producers were looking for a physically imposing male with a unique look and a sports background — a description that fits Batista perfectly.”
Part-time WWE Superstar Batista has reportedly signed on to play the villain Hinx in the upcoming James Bond movie, according to Latino-Review.com.
The following casting the following casting breakdown leaked online a few weeks ago, with “Bond 24” producers looking for an iconic Bond villain in “in the tradition of Jaws and Oddjob.” –
We are looking to follow in the tradition of JAWS and ODDJOB in finding an iconic baddy.
“Hinx (Male, 30 – 45)”
“Ideally over 6? 2?. Hinx is the main henchman/assassin. We are looking for an imposing extremely physically fit actor. He has several fights with Bond and will have to have stunt training. He has to drive. We are looking for someone very unusual, possibly from a sports background.”
“Height: 180cm – 195cm”
Hot off the success of his role as Drax The Destroyer, it looks like Batista has landed his biggest movie role to date.
Bond 24 begins filming on Dec 6th, with actor Daniel Craig reprising the role of James Bond for the fourth time. Director Sam Mendes (“James Bond: Skyfall”), will be returning for the new film as well. Most of the production will take place at Pinewood Studios in England, with additional shooting scheduled for Austria, Rome and possibly Morocco.
Posted October 13th, 2014 in News, WWE. Tagged: Batista.
Part-time WWE Superstar Batista has joined the cast of the movie “Bus 657” starring Robert De Niro, according to a report at Deadline.com.
Female MMA fighter Gina Carano, Kate Bosworth and Jeffrey Dean Morgan are also on board.
Here’s the synopsis for Bus 657, which is described as an “action thriller” –
“[Bus 657] centers on a father (Morgan) without the means to pay for his daughter’s medical treatment. As a last resort, he partners with a greedy co-worker (Bautista) to rob a casino and the two hijack a bus full of hostages and things go awry. De Niro will play Frank ‘The Pope,’ owner of the casino, and Bosworth plays his estranged daughter. Carano is a policewoman in pursuit of the hijacked bus.”
Production begins on October 13, with shooting scheduled to take place in Alabama.
Posted September 25th, 2014 in News, WWE. Tagged: Batista.
As of last week, the plan for Roman Reigns over the next several months was to continue building him up, with him going on to win the 2015 Royal Rumble and challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.
Due to Reigns’ emergency hernia surgery, the recovery process will keep him out of action for at least a few months. However, it is believed that even in the worst case scenario, Reigns will be back in time for the Rumble, meaning WWE can continue ahead as planned with their idea of pushing him going into next year’s WrestleMania.
It’s worth noting that with Reigns on the sidelines, a major opportunity has opened for Dean Ambrose. While Ambrose was already scheduled for a big push, he will now be used as the #2 babyface in the company behind John Cena and his career is now on a faster track than it would have been had Reigns (and Daniel Bryan) stayed healthy.
Along with Reigns returning in time for the Rumble pay-per-view, Daniel Bryan is also expected to make his WWE return around the same time.
Another WWE Superstar that is expected to return in time for “WrestleMania season” is Batista, possibly returning to do his “farewell run” with the company, now that his Hollywood career is taking off.
Not to mention – Kurt Angle, Bully Ray and Jeff Hardy could all be free to work for WWE by WretleMania season.
– With the opening weekend of the films, “No Good Deed” and “Dolphin Tale 2,” Batista’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” fell to number three this week, earning a reported $8.04 million this weekend in its seventh week in theaters.
– The “Monday Night War” episode of the WWE Network next week will focus primarily on Bret Hart jumping ship to WCW, the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” and that whole ordeal.
Marvel Studios are currently restructuring Batista’s contract, a deal that will result in “The Animal” receiving a considerable amount of extra pay, as well as some guaranteed big-time movie roles in the future.
As things stand now, Batista is already locked in for the “Guardians of the Galaxy” sequel, as well as a role in the third “Avengers” film, which is scheduled for a May 2015 release.
As far as his role in pro wrestling is concerned, it is said that Batista’s people don’t want him to have any involvement with WWE. He is, however, currently in talks with WWE, however the belief is they will come second to his movie career.
– Batista recently made an appearance at the Chicago Wizard World convention to promote his new blockbuster movie, Guardians of the Galaxy. WWE Paul Heyman’s Heyman Hustle site has exclusive photos from the event.
– Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are once again being paired together at WWE live events. After WWE seemed to pull the plug on the group that many fans are referring to as the ‘new’ Nation of Domination, Big E and Kofi (with Xavier Woods at ringside) teamed together to defeat NXT Tag Team Champions The Ascension. Big E and Kofi worked as heels.
Here’s a photo of them together after their match:
– The film “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which features Batista in a prominent role, has officially passed the $550 million global mark, as it has now earned a total of $554,304,119. The movie is scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray this November.
– Rosa Mendes’ role on the upcoming third season of Total Divas, which premieres on E! this Sunday, will be that of a “former” WWE Diva who was pulled off the roster and is now returning. The official synopsis for the first episode of season three of Total Divas reads as follows:
“Season 3 begins with Nikki planning her future without her current boyfriend John Cena; at the same time, life turns topsy-turvy for Eva when she’s forced to choose between family and her husband; and tensions are high when a former diva returns to the roster, revealing a dark secret.”
– The Tickld website has a new article up regarding Batista’s role as “Drax” in the wildly successful “Guardians of the Galaxy” film. You can check that out at Tickld.com.
– The following matches are confirmed for this Thursday’s edition of NXT TV on the WWE Network, which is the “go-home” show for the September 11th NXT Takeover 2 special.
*The Vaudevillains vs. Sin Cara & Kalisto [Number 1 Contendership For Tag-Titles]
*Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss [NXT Women’s Championship]
*Tyler Breeze vs. Tye Dillinger
*Tyson Kidd vs. Adam Rose
*Adrian Neville vs. CJ Parker
– The movie “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which stars Batista, finished number one at the box office yet again in its’ fifth weekend, earning $16.31 million for the weekend. The Rock’s movie “Hercules” is now down to 337 theaters and earned an estimated $600,000.
– Alberto Del Rio is currently being advertised to appear at the AAA events in Puerto Vallarta on September 13th and 14th.
As noted recently, there is a general feeling within WWE that due to the success of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” film, Batista may end up staying away from the wrestling scene in favor of doing more movie work.
Apparently people close to Batista say that he still feels let down and unhappy with WWE over the way he was booked when he returned to the company earlier this year.
One source claims that if Batista were to return, however, that it would be to begin a program for WrestleMania 31 next year. Batista himself has expressed interest in working a retirement match against Triple H, however there has been no word within WWE as to whether or not that is something they would be interested in.
– The latest edition of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, which features an interview with Batista, is now online. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TIJ – EP68 – Batista Pt. 1
“He’s Drax in “Guardians Of The Galaxy.” He’s a former WWE World Champion. And he looks damn good in skinny jeans…despite the reports on twitter! Batista sits down with Y2J. He’s got stories from the set of “Guardians,” details about the Drax makeup, and thoughts on leaving WWE and his most recent return. He’s also talking Royal Rumble, Daniel Bryan, and Wrestlemania 30.”
– The latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which features an interview with Tony Schiavone, is now online. The official description for that show reads as follows:
TRR – Ep28 – Tony Schiavone
“Tony Schiavone steered the Monday Nitro ship for WCW, spent a brief year in WWE, got his start with Jim Crockett Promotions… and joins Good Ole JR to relive it all. He’s also speaking candidly about Bobby Heenan, Vince Russo, and Ed Ferrara, and sharing details about what happened behind-the-scenes the night NWO debuted!”
– And finally, the latest edition of Steve Austin’s “Steve Austin Show” podcast, which features an interview with Jim Ross, is now online. The official description for that show reads as follows:
SASc – EP145 – Jim Ross
“Steve Austin and Jim Ross are talkin’ rasslin’… today’s rasslin’! Hear why they think Paul Heyman may be the best talker EVER in the history of the business, what John Cena needs to do in his rematch against Brock Lesnar, why Bray Wyatt is actually a character babyface and not a heel, where Sting will end his wrestling career, who should challenge Roman Reigns, and when JR knew something was fishy in Montreal! Plus, a RAW breakdown, some fantasy booking, and what to do with the IC Belt.”
There are many people within WWE who are under the impression that as the “Guardians of the Galaxy” film continues to enjoy more and more success, that the chances that Batista will ever return as a full-time performer in WWE decreases.
When “The Animal” left a few months ago, the belief among many was that he would be back as soon as his media obligations were done for the film, however those same people have been changing their tune as of late.
Apparently, the topic of Batista was a big one backstage at this past weekend’s WWE live events. The feeling is that he will receive a lot more offers from Hollywood after the success of “Guardians,” which much like The Rock, means he’s likely not to work as much in WWE for fear of getting injured and ruining his chances at working in more movies.
Batista’s movie “Guardians of the Galaxy” finished number one again in its’ fourth week at the box office, earning $17.63 million this weekend, bringing its’ total to $251.88 million.
By comparison, The Rock’s “Hercules” film, which is in its’ fifth week, did not place in the top 15 this weekend, expected to earn $830,000 for a domestic total of $69.92 million.
In Australia, “Guardians of the Galaxy” finished at number one as well, while The Rock’s “Hercules” finished at number five.
There’s a feeling in Hollywood that due to the incredible success of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie, which Batista has a lead role in, as well as the seemingly universally positive reviews for his work in the film, that “The Animal” is likely to receive offers for some major starring roles in future projects.
The “Guardians of the Galaxy” film had the best opening for a movie in the month of August in history and the 32nd biggest opening weekend for a film of all-time.
The following are highlights of a new Chad Dukes Wrestling Show interview with Batista:
On Roman Reigns and The Shield: “I thought they were pushing him a bit too soon. The guy’s obviously, he’s a huge star, he’s gonna be a huge star. I feel like if they push him out there before he’s ready, it’s gonna put a fizzle on everything, man, I’d just hate to see that. This is just my opinion, but I think they should have kept [the Shield] together a little bit longer. Let ’em have that babyface run just a little bit longer.”
On returning to WWE as a babyface: “I’ll be honest with you, I just don’t want it. I love being a heel, man, you know that. That’s what I love to do, man. I think I’m the guy that people love to boo and I’m okay with that and I love being heel.”
“I’m the worst babyface in the history of wrestling. [Laughs] I’m just not good at it. When you do promos sometimes you gotta say things that people wanna hear instead of telling them things they should hear. You know it’s hard for me to be that guy always saying the politically correct thing. I just don’t like it I’m not comfortable with it.”
– Alberto del Rio took over Ricardo Rodriguez’s backstage interview role this past week for segments that air exclusively on RAW and SmackDown in Mexico.
Del Rio stayed in character as a heel, mocking Rodriguez for being “fat” and “useless.” He also called himself the greatest international Superstar to ever come to WWE.
– Batista’s new “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie opened at #1 over the weekend at set a new August box office record in the United States with an estimated $94.0 million opening weekend (domestic). Including the foreign box office proceeds of over $66 million, Guardians of The Galaxy, which opened last week, has already taken in over $160 million.
Meanwhile, The Rock’s “Hercules” movie fell to #4, just passing the $10-million mark with an estimated haul of $10.7 million in its second weekend.
Guardians of the Galaxy is getting rave reviews from critics and moviegoers, with a 93% rating on RottenTomatoes.com.
The movie “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which features Batista in a significant role, opened up with $37.8 million for its’ first day, easily beating The Rock’s “Hercules” film, which didn’t draw as much in its’ entire opening weekend.
To be fair, however, Batista’s film opened up in 500 more theaters than “Hercules.” Additionally, Batista has been receiving great reviews for his work in the film.
The following are highlights of a new Tampa Tribune interview with Batista:
On being part of WWE: “I think it’s crazy that I’m a part of the WWE in general. I used to watch it as a kid and never imagined I’d be a part of it. I never get used to it.”
On the surreal feeling of being in Guardians of the Galaxy: “I had Vin Diesel on my right and Benicio Del Toro on my left and I kept wondering how I got there. It’s surreal.”
On a return to wrestling: “I still love wrestling. Physically I’m in great shape so hopefully I can go back to that.”
