Principal photography for the latest Bond flick, SPECTRE, started today at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire.
Director Sam Mendes revealed the title at a special launch event on Thursday, as well as confirming the cast.
Daniel Craig will return as 007 for a fourth time. He will be joined by SHERLOCK’s Andrew Scott, as a Whitehall-based character called Denbigh, and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY actor Dave Bautista, playing a henchman called Mr Hinx.
Italian actress Monica Bellucci and France’s Lea Seydoux have been unveiled as the new ‘Bond girls’, named Lucia Sciarra and Madeleine Swann.
We will also see the return of cast members Ralph Fiennes (M), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), Ben Whishaw (Q) and Rory Kinnear (Tanner).
As previously reported, double Oscar winner Christoph Waltz will have a role in the film, playing a character called Oberhauser.
There has been some debate around this character; his name is the same as that of Bond’s former ski instructor, though it has been rumoured Waltz will really be playing Bond’s old nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
This rumour links well with the title SPECTRE. SPECTRE – or Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion – was the name of an international crime syndicate, whose ‘Number One’ was Blofeld himself. But Daniel Craig refused to confirm if Waltz will be playing Blofeld, saying we’d have to “wait and see”.
According to the film studio, the plot will see a cryptic message from Bond’s past send 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…
The film is set for release late 2015.
