The upcoming 24th James Bond film will be called Spectre. The title was announced Thursday along with new castmembers Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott and Monica Bellucci.
A live announcement by Eon Productions, MGM Studios and Sony Pictures from the 007 Stage at London’s Pinewood Studios, the British studio home of the Bond franchise, started at 11 a.m. local time.
See more 7 Actors Who Played 007: James Bond Turns 50
Principal photography is due to begin on Monday.
According to the official 007 Twitter feed, Waltz will play Oberhauser, which could refer to Hannes Oberhauser, a character who was Bond’s ski instructor and considered his second father. Seydoux is set to play Madeleine Swann, Belluci will star as Lucia Sciarra and Bautista will be Mr. Hinx.
Daniel Craig will return as 007, with Naomi Harris (Eve Moneypenny), Ben Whishaw (Q) and Ralph Fiennes (Gareth Mallory, later to become M) reprising their roles from 2012’s Skyfall. Also announced Thursday was a returning Rory Kinnear as Tanner. Scott will join the British secret service as a character called Denbigh.
Sam Mendes is back in the director’s chair, with Skyfall writers John Logan, Neil Purvis and Rob Wade also returning.
See more The Making of ‘Skyfall’: Bond is Back, Better Than Ever
Scott is known to audiences from his role as Moriarty in BBC hit show Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. WWE star Bautista was recently seen in Guardians of the Galaxy.
The name Spectre is likely to refer to the fictional terrorist organization that featured in James Bond novels and first appeared on screen in 1962’s Dr. No. It was led by Bond’s nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Outside of Pinewood, shooting will take place in Rome, as previously revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, as well as London, Morocco, Mexico City and the Austrian Alps.
See more ‘Skyfall‘ London Premiere: Daniel Craig is Back as Bond
On the production side, newcomers to the Bond team include editor Lee Smith (Interstellar, The Dark Knight trilogy) and Hoyte Van Hoytema (Interstellar, Her) as director of photography.
The 23rd Bond, the last for Judi Dench as Bond’s boss M, was an unexpected smash hit, becoming the seventh-biggest film of all time with earnings of $1.1 billion, the second-biggest film of 2012 behind The Avengers and the highest-grossing film in U.K. box-office history. It won two Oscars, two BAFTAS and two Grammys.
The film is set to be released in the U.K. on Oct. 23 and on Nov. 6 in the U.S.
Read more Stephen Hawking Would Like to Play Bond Villain
The event also saw the unveiling of the latest Bond car for the upcoming film, the Aston Martin DB10.
The cast of ‘Spectre’ with director Sam Mendes at Thursday’s announcement.
