Bond, James Bond returns in the 24th film in the long-running espionage franchise. On Wednesday, returning director Sam Mendes (Skyfall) hosted an unveiling event that revealed the film’s shrouded title, among other tidbits. Bond 24 is name SPECTRE and it aims to release November 6, 2015. In case you’re not ‘in the know’ when it comes to all things 007, SPECTRE is a fictional global terrorist organization featured in a number of James Bond novels written by Ian Flemming. It’s also an acronym: SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. The head of the organization is evil genius Ernst Stavro Blofeld; the character is featured in a number of Flemming’s novels as well as many 007 films. He was perhaps portrayed most famously by Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice (1967). The character would go on to spawn Mike Myers’ Dr. Evil, of course.
With SPECTRE at the center of the new film, you’d think Blofeld would serve as Bond’s main antagonist here. Interestingly, the cast announcement left his name out entirely. Obviously Daniel Craig reprises 007 for the fourth time running; other returning cast includes Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny, and Ralph Fiennes as the new M. Joining the cast is Andrew Scott (Moriarty from BBC’s Sherlock) as Denbigh, Dave Bautista (Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy) as Mr. Hinx, Monica Bellucci as Bond Girl #1 Lucia Sciarra, Léa Seydoux as Bond Girl #2 Madeleine Swann, and Christoph Waltz as Hannes Oberhauser. Now, Oberhauser is an actual character plucked from Bond lore; he served as a mentor for James before he mysteriously vanished. Even then, why can’t I stop postulating that this is merely a ruse and Waltz will indeed portray the sinister Blofeld? (Star Wars did it when they cast Benedict Cumberbatch as “John Harrison” and we all know who that ended up being.)
SPECTRE will shoot at Pinewood Studios in London, as well as in exotic locales like Rome, Mexico City, Tangier, Erfoud, and the Austrian Alps. Principal photography begins this Monday at Pinewood with Mendes at the helm and Interstellar‘s cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema and editor Lee Smith beside him. Skyfall writers John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have also penned the SPECTRE script.
As in all Bond movies, 007’s method of transportation here plays an important, flashy role. Mendes dramatically revealed Bond’s latest ride at the press event: it’s the all-new Astin Martin DB10. Little is known about the high-performance vehicle, expect for the fact that it was designed specifically for the movie and limited production is underway.
What else? Here’s a log line: “A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. 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.”
So pretty much all that’s left is to find out who will be performing SPECTRE‘s theme. Recent rumblings point to talented British crooner Sam Smith. For now, jump after the break view the official teaser poster. Continue reading ‘Bond 24’ gets a title, release date, official synopsis, cast & all-new specifically designed Astin Martin car →
