In what, in retrospect, was probably a carefully orchestrated move involving elaborate acts of sabotage and exploding cuff links, apparently that two-year-old interview with Daniel Craig that surfaced yesterday actually contained a pretty major clue to the title of the new Bond movie.
That title is Spectre, which means that James Bond will once again be battling the insidious hive of supervillainy that first appeared on screen in 1962’s Dr. No. This return to ’60s Bond form comes after MGM settled its six-decade legal feud with the estate of writer Kevin McClory, who helped develop the idea for SPECTRE, as introduced in Ian Fleming’s 1961 novel Thunderball, last year.Here’s the official description of Spectre:
“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.”
The official cast was also announced at a press conference in London earlier this morning, confirming that Christoph Waltz will, in fact, play Bond’s nemesis in Spectre. Waltz’s character is named Franz Oberhauser, and is described as the son of Bond’s climbing instructor and mentor Hannes Oberhauser. But speculation in the British press is that he will be revealed as SPECTRE head Blofeld, which would be great because we’d really like to see Waltz over-explaining his evil plans while stroking a white Persian cat.
Other new cast members for Spectre include Monica Bellucci—who apparently the Bond producers have been trying to get for quite some time now—as Lucia Sciarra and Sherlock’s Andrew Scott as Denbigh. Blue Is The Warmest Color’s Léa Seydoux and Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Dave Bautista have also been confirmed, and will be playing Madeleine Swann and Mr. Hinx, respectively. Returning cast members include (obviously) Daniel Craig as James Bond, Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny, and Ralph Fiennes, who will take over from Judi Dench as the new M.
Filming will begin at London’s Pinewood Studios, where all the cool movie studios are filming their tentpole pictures these days, this month. Spectre will be directed by Skyfall’s Sam Mendes and shot by Interstellar and Her cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, and is set to release on November 6, 2015.