Bond 24: Spectre

There was a big announcement at Pinewood Studios today as the title and principal cast of the 24th Bond film was announced.

The title is... Spectre

The synopsis of the film is as follows: '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.'

Hearking back to the classic Bond era, the Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion was a thorn in Bond's side throughout the films of the 1960s and early 1970s, led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played variously by Donald Pleasance, Telly Savalas and Charles Gray).

Directed by Sam Mendes (returning after his brilliant direction of Skyfall), produced by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and written by John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, Daniel Craig returns to the role of Bond for the fourth time.

Also returning are Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q, Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner and Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, all reprising their roles from Skyfall.

But who's new?

Double Oscar-winning actor Christoph Waltz has joined the cast, playing a character called Oberhauser. There have been rumours circulating that he was to be cast as iconic Bond villain Blofeld and- with a title like Spectre- that could still be possible.

Other cast members include Andrew Scott (Pride, Moriarty in Sherlock) as Denbigh, Monica Bellucci (Irreversible, The Matrix Reloaded) as Lucia Sciarra, Dave Bautista (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Mr Hinx and Lea Seydoux (Blue Is The Warmest Color) as Madeleine Swann. 

Filming will take place in London, Rome, Mexico City, Tangiers and the Austrian Alps. 

Hitting cinemas on November 6th 2015, we only have just under a year to wait. We at The Watchers are, it's fair to say, rather excited by this!

As you may or may not know, we undertook a Bondathon in 2012 to celebrate the release of Skyfall, to celebrate 50 years of a British cinematic icon, and to raise some money for Cancer Research Wales. Head over to the Bondathon blog to find out more!