The long wait for any official 007 news is over! James Bond 25 now has an official 2019 theatrical release date set. The sequel to Spectre has been talked about for months, but no official information had been available until now. The news comes after pretty strong rumors suggested Daniel Craig is returning to the role he claimed he'd never do again. But that rumor remains to still be unconfirmed at this time. While we have release date set, we still do not have a cast or director announcement.

Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, EON Production, and Gary Barber, Chairman and CEO, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. announced today that 007 will return to theaters for a 25th installment of the James Bond franchise on November 8th, 2019 with a traditional earlier release for the U.K. and the rest of the world. Bond 25 will be produced by Wilson and Broccoli and written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, long time collaborators and writers on previous Bond movies including Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre.

But what we don't have at the moment is a director or cast, which are said to be released at a later date. The news comes after rumors were circulating about new actors stepping into the Bond role to replace Daniel Craig. Many names have been brought up including Idris Elba (The Dark Tower, Avengers: Age of Ultron), who in a hacked Sony email was said to be a top choice, with Steven Spielberg even once declaring that Elba would be his "first choice" in an interview. Tom Hardy (Mad Max, The Dark Knight Rises) has also been rumored to be on the shortlist along with Damian Lewis, Aiden Turner, and James Norton. In fact, Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan has been rumored to be a possible choice for director, but he has said that he would only take on the project if they needed him, which he has stressed that they don't apparently need him at this time. Sherlock's Paul McGuigan has also been rumored to possibly direct as well.

It has been reported that Daniel Craig is under contract for one more Bond movie, so it would make sense for him to return, even if he has said in the past that he would rather slit is wrists than come back to the beloved franchise. It could be a lot easier to renegotiate a contract than get out of one, so maybe Craig reached a deal as the rumors have suggested. One thing is for certain, if the movie has a release date set, it is highly probable that the cast is already secretly set and ready to go.

Alright, so there's one less thing to speculate about for Bond 25 now. But that still leaves some very important lingering unanswered questions for fans. Who will step in for 007 this time? Who will direct? Christopher Nolan and Tom Hardy could make a pretty interesting choice as could Idris Elba. The true waiting game begins now. Bond 25 officially hit theaters on November 8th, 2019.