Project 007 won't be based on any of the James Bond actors

Project 007, the James Bond game in development at Hitman studio IO Interactive, won't be based on any of the actors who have played the iconic secret agent on film.

Speaking with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, the studio's director, Hakan Abrak, said that "we have been allowed to make our own digital Bond, which will not lean on a Bond actor." That's a significant departure from many past James Bond games, the vast majority of which have leaned on major films or their actors as selling points.

Abrak goes on to say that the studio's take on Bond will be "a completely original story," adding to last year's announcement of Project 007, when the team said that its game would be a prequel, putting players in control of a much younger Bond than film fans might be used to. 

It would seem, however, that IO Interactive has plans beyond just one game, as Abrak says that "you could easily imagine that a trilogy" could come out of its story.

Later on, Abrak documents the meeting with film producer Barbara Broccoli in which the studio secured the rights to make a Bond game. He claims that the 'matriarch' of the James Bond license felt previous games had been "violence for the sake of violence," but that "[IO Interactive's] story, our background with the Hitman universe and our vision of what Bond is in a game format" were enough to impress her.

However impressive the studio's efforts, however, various job listings suggest that Project 007 is still a very long way off. With much of the work on Hitman 3 drawing to a close over the next few months, there's a chance that IO Interactive will be able to progress faster on the game, but don't expect to see the game release for a few years yet.

At this rate, who knows - perhaps Project 007 will arrive ahead of No time To Die.