James Bond 24 is now officially known as Spectre, and Sam Mendes will return to direct the screenplay from his fellow Skyfall writing team including John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade.
The reveal came during a live streamed event this morning and included the unveiling of the new Aston Martin DB10 car, which will be featured in the film as Bond’s new ride.
Daniel Craig returns as James Bond 007 in what will be the actor’s fourth turn in the role. Predictably joining Craig from Skyfall, the most recent Bond film, are Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Winshaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, and Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, MI6 Chief of Staff.
The James Bond Spectre really gets interesting with the new additions. Andrew Scott will play Denby, described as a new member of the Whitehall family. Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista will play Mr. Hinx, presumably the film’s muscle that Bond will have to tussle with.
Portraying two new Bond ladies are a pair of Europeans: veteran actress Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra, and her younger counterpart Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swan.
Christoph Waltz was the final cast member introduced and has the name “Frank Oberhauser” attached to his character, but that could be a red herring to try and conceal his character’s true identity.
Rumors sprang up a few days ago that Waltz would be playing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the most iconic of all Bond villains that has been portrayed by nearly as many actors as Bond himself has. The film’s titled, Spectre, comes from Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. SPECTRE stands for SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, and is the terrorist organization Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Put two and two together and it’s quite clear who Waltz is playing and what Bond will be up against.
Update: The official Spectre synopsis has been released:
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
Other tidbits of information revealed in the official press release confirm that Bond is returning to the snow in Austria, as well as shoot in other Austrian locations, Mexico City, Rome, and two Moroccan cities. The home base for production is at Pinewood Studios, and the new Aston Martin car was designed and built specifically for the film.
Production on Spectre kicks off next Monday, January 8, with a global release date set for November 6, 2015.
Here’s the James Bond Spectre teaser poster with an odd bullet hole that will be speculated on for months to come.
