With a fevered level of anticipation usually reserved only for the countdown to the poster promoting the teaser for a trailer, the world’s press gathered on the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios for the reveal of the title, cast and other details of the 24th James Bond film.
With 007’s last entry, "Skyfall," being easily the most successful entry in the series to date, a billion-dollar, Oscar-winning smash, and the same creative team, led by director Sam Mendes, returning for the new outing, hopes have certainly been high for the new picture. And despite Sony’s recent hacking problems, details have mostly remained under wraps. The name of the film, then? "Spectre."
As fans will probably realize, and as Mendes hinted, the title seems to refer to the supervillainous organization led by Bond’s greatest foe, Blofeld. And who’ll be playing him? Well, Mendes wasn’t confirming anything, but did confirm that Christoph Waltz was joining the cast as a character called ‘Oberhauser,’ so that seems like a fairly good indication, unless there’s some bait-and-switch going on.
Beyond Waltz, Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris, Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear are all returning, while "Sherlock" and "Pride" star Andrew Scott is joining on the MI5 side (though as he was rumored to be playing a villain a few days ago, perhaps he’s not entirely to be trusted). Beyond that, the previously rumored Lea Seydoux and Monica Bellucci look to be the Bond girls this time around, as characters named Madeleine Swan and Luciana Sciarra, while "Guardians Of The Galaxy"’s breakout Dave Bautista is also on board as Mr. Hinx, likely to be the ‘iconic’ henchman in the vein of Odd Job and Jaws that’s been said to be part of the film too.
Beyond that, Mendes wasn’t spilling too many other beans, though confirmed that editor Lee Smith and DoP Hoyte Van Hoytema, both fresh off "Interstellar," were joining the creative team, and that the film shoots in London, Rome, Mexico City, Tangiers and Austria, starting Monday. Oh, and there’s a new car or something. Can Mendes top "Skyfall," or will this be his "Tomorrow Never Dies"? We’ll find out when "Spectre" opens on November 6th, 2015.
Keep your expectations low and try to enjoy this. Nothing we say or do will have any affect on them doing what they want. I personally thought Solace was better than Skyfall but seriously doubt anyone cares…just gonna roll with and be thankful the series is alive and well. We all know Clive Owen is the true Bond anyway.
The bullet hole in the teaser poster reminds me of the last scene in On Her Majesty\’s Secret Service. I wonder if this is some kind of reference, seems to close to not be.
Also worried about adding henchmen and going back to the SPECTRE thing… no one seems to be able to move a franchise in a new, original direction. They only know how to recycle old elements.
JJ – you are mad. Skyfall was fantastic. And this sounds brilliant.
Very interesting. I think "Skyfall" can be topped, but it\’s a tough act to follow. My hope is that they keep the throwback cheekiness and amp up the action.
Also, "Tomorrow Never Dies" may pale in comparison to "Goldeneye," but it\’s still a lot of fun to watch. I wouldn\’t be disappointed if that\’s the worst this turned out to be!
Frankly, this sounds like a disaster. I really dislike this backtracking that they\’re doing. Casino Royale was a great reboot, it was the breath of fresh air that the franchise needed. When Quantum of Solace failed, the studio panicked and started bringing back all the classic James Bond elements for Skyfall. (Gadgets, Moneypenny, a male M, lame humor, the Martini line, etc, etc) Now they\’re going all-out throwback with S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and henchmen and all that stuff. It\’s such a disappointment really.