Bond Camp Scoffs at Supposed Leak

August 22 -- Borrowing a page from unflappable secret agent James Bond, producers of the spy franchise are taking a supposed plot leak in stride.

The Bond fan site www.bond20.com has claimed to have uncovered the plot of the next Bond film and its title, Final Assignment, a report that the production company dismisses as pure fantasy.

According to the fan site, the next Bond adventure would introduce 007's father, Andrew Bond — who was also a spy, but who is seen only in flashbacks. Son James' mission would be to find his father's killer in a global chase that ends — in an apparent nod to Alfred Hitchcock's 1942 spy film, Saboteur — with a final life-and-death battle atop the crown of New York's Statue of Liberty. The supposed casting of Bond Sr. certainly appears to be a fan's dream: Sean Connery, the original dashing 007. The villain, the unsubtly named David Saten, is said to be played by Nigel Havers, one of the Olympian lads from 1981's Chariots of Fire, whose name previously popped up for the gig in 1999.

However, a spokeswoman for Eon Productions tells Reuters, "We have spoken to the producers about it and I'm afraid it's a fan who's done a James Bond script — it's not ours." Added the spokeswoman, "The film hasn't got a name yet. It's only in the very beginning of pre-production."

She said casting should start in the next couple of weeks and that they hoped to start shooting in January next year. She did confirm that director Lee Tamahori is on board for the film but did not confirm an earlier report that Whitney Houston would play the next Bond girl.

Pierce Brosnan may make this his last outing as Bond; the media is already casting about for the next martini-drinking, gadget-loving actor. Leading men being sized up for Bond's tux include Brits Jude Law and Clive Owen, Welsh-born Christian Bale, Scots Ewan McGregor and Gerard Butler, and Aussies Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman.