Bloom to play Bond, young Bond

With Hollywood's current obsession with prequels and sequels well underway, Orlando Bloom has been cast as the young James Bond.

"The story that Orlando will play Bond is true but we are doing a rather novel film about the young James Bond," a source from Disney subsidiary Miramax said.

The film looks set to focus on Bond's early days, obliquely mentioned in one of Ian Fleming's original novels.

"Fleming never really got into this period of his character 's life, but he did mention in "You Only Live Twice" that Bond attended Fettes College [the Scottish public school attended by Tony Blair], having been expelled from Eton," the source explained.

Charlie Higson, author of "The Fast Show", is writing the screenplay.

The film looks set to focus on Bond's early womanising.

"There will be a lot of that sort of thing," the insider explained.

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