While James Bond 24’s director is still a question mark, we now know that Penelope Cruz will be playing the next Bond girl.

Rumors for who will be directing the next James Bond film have been coming out daily, but according to Yahoo! Movies UK, there’s no question that actress Penelope Cruz will play the next Bond girl. It was rumored that director Chris Nolan may be helming James Bond 24, but now we’re hearing that Skyfall director Sam Mendes will likely return to direct Bond 24.

The Oscar winning actress will join Daniel Craig in the next Bond film, and will be the oldest Bond girl to date at age 40. It makes sense, as Daniel Craig is pushing 45 and he talked about his aging body ad nauseum in the latest Bond, that we’ll have a more veteran actress play his love interest.

But, age doesn’t mean anything to Cruz, who is just as gorgeous as she was when she picked up her Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008. Interestingly, Penelope is married to Javier Bardem, who played the villain in the most recent James Bond film, Skyfall, which went on to break a billion dollars at the box office. Making it the biggest Bond film to date, which was why so many fans were interested in finding out why director Sam Mendes had reservations for coming back.

Penelope Cruz is a perfect choice for Bond, as she’s excotic, intelligent, and insanely beautiful. We look forward to seeing her along with Daniel Craig in James Bond 24. The next Bond film is reportedly starting its filming next summer, which would put the release date between late 2015 or early 2016.