Daniel Craig will reportedly star in ‘Shatterhand’ (Matt Crossick/PA)
The upcoming James Bond film has reportedly been given the working title of Shatterhand.
Daniel Craig is set to return as 007 in the 25th instalment of the long-running Bond franchise following the success of Spectre.
The production is due to begin shooting in March this year, with a release date planned for April 2020.
Shatterhand is a reference to the original Ian Fleming novels where Bond and his nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld first appeared.
The working title was reported by a trade magazine, and could hold a clue as to the setting of the film, which will be directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.
Blofeld used the alias Dr Guntram Shatterhand in the 1964 novel You Only Live Twice, which follows Bond to Japan where he finds his arch enemy living under that name, hinting at the setting and basis of the upcoming film.
Christoph Waltz played Blofeld in Spectre (Ian West/PA)
The plot of the novel follows the famous spy from grief over the murder of his wife, through an obsession with revenge, to Bond losing his memory while settling into Japanese life.
The working title of Shatterhand was reported in the magazine Production Weekly.
Eon Productions, the UK company which makes the Bond films, has been contacted for comment on the title.
