The basic information about the upcoming 2015 James Bond film is now officially out, including who'll be playing some of the new villains of the series: the title, release date and Bond 24 cast have finally been announced!
Fans of the Bond genre saw a great day on December 4, as the wait finally saw its end: after months of speculation, news of the Bond 24 cast and at least some of the plot have finally been revealed. According to Deadline, details of the film were first announced at the Bond stage in London's Pinewood Studios, one of the main locations that will see the shooting of the upcoming movie.
As well as the announcement of the Bond 24 cast, the name of the film was announced to be Spectre, a title that excites fans of the most famous MI6 agent in the world: it's a direct reference to the classic terrorist organization SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) from the Ian Fleming books as well as the older movies, having been named for the first time when in the now classic Sean Connery movie "Dr. No," the first of the Bond franchise.
Over the past few months, rumors of who would be in the Bond 24 cast have been floating around the Internet, as the media named numerous actors as possible candidates for smaller roles, or even those of the bad guys. After Javier Bardem's amazing turn in "Skyfall," whoever played the Bond villain had to be someone larger than life - and what better way to follow such an amazing baddie other than to portray the classic organization that was the biggest headache for MI6 during the Cold War?
According to Variety, the Bond 24 cast will be starting principal photography for Spectre next Monday. As Sam Mendes returns for a directing gig in he new movie, of course, 007 himself will continue to be played by Daniel Craig, in what will be his fourth portrayal of the suave agent who takes his Vodka Martinis shaken, not stirred.
As shown by the ending of "Skyfall," Oscar-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes will play the role of the new M. Other recurring members of the cast will be Naomie Harris as Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as tech-savvy Q.
On to the juicy part: the new Bond 24 cast members. According to The Hollywood Reporter, other actors who will be joining "Spectre" are: two-time Oscar winner Christopher Waltz, BBC's "Sherlock" baddie Andrew Scott (both actors will be playing villains in the upcoming movie) and "Guardians of the Galaxy" wrestler Dave Bautista. Joining the cast as Bond girls, the famous femme fatale Monica Belluci and "Midnight in Paris" French beauty Léa Seydoux.
While the official name for Waltz's character is Oberhauser, different news outlets such as UK's The Telegraph have speculated that he might in fact be the ultimate James Bond villain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in disguise.
This line of thinking comes as that line of thinking has become somewhat popular to cover up for classic characters in the past, in experiences like Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of classic baddie Khan in last year's "Star Trek: Into Darkness." The Bond franchise did this trick themselves in the last film, the award-winning "Skyfall," as they introduced Naomie Harris as just Eve, after she turned out to be the classic M secretary, Miss Moneypenny.
In any case, now that the Bond 24 cast is out in the open, all fans of the series can do is wait for the next updates: from teaser, to trailers and finally the release of the movie next year. In the United Kingdom, "Spectre" will be released on October 23, while United States fans will get to see the latest of agent 007 by November 6.