After years of delays and more ridiculous casting rumors than we know how to handle, it's finally time for Sam Mendes to start work as the director of Bond 23, which will of course once again star Daniel Craig as the international, debonair spy. Very, very little has been confirmed about the movie, though repeated rumors have Naomie Harris playing a role as either Moneypenny or a new Bond girl, with Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes also rumored for roles.

While we wait for any confirmed casting information to come down the pike, we'll have to settle for rumors about where the movie might shoot. According to this article in the Times of India, the production has been seeking permission to block off a section of railroad in Ahmedabad and Goa, India, two areas of the country relatively near Mumbai, on the western coast. They want to use the area to shoot a sequence involving "Daniel Craig doing stunts on a freight train," and while the plan had been to shoot this fall, it's now been delayed to January or February.

India Take One Productions, the unit that will be responsible for the location shoot, has had a little bit of trouble securing permission to block off so much of the railroad, and there are apparently vague threats to move things to South Africa instead. Since they have a few months to work things out, my guess is that the South Africa threats are just that-- the Take One rep quoted in the article, Pravesh Sahni, rightly points out that "This could be one of the biggest Hollywood movies shot in our country," and intriguingly hints that "Trains are the backbone of the film." That's an opportunity the railroad management would be insane to pass up. Sounds like no matter where they film it we'll see Bond hanging off the front of a rushing train car, and given how long we've had to wait between installments, they'll hopefully be pulling out all the stops to make sure we're glad Bond is back at last.