Director Sam Mendes introduced the main main cast of the film, which will be released in Fall 2015, in a live webcast from the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios in London. Mendes quashed the widespread rumor that Christoph Waltz would be playing the iconic Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofelt, who has appeared in six Bond films to date. Instead Waltz will be playing someone named Oberhauser, although it's still entirely possible that Oberhauser is just a pseudonym.
Daniel Craig is back as 007, rejoined by Skyfall's British spy team: Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Whishaw as Q, and Rory Kinnear as Tanner. The most high-profile new cast member is surely Monica Belucci as a rare example of an age-appropriate Bond Girl, 50 to Daniel Craig's 46.French actress Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour) also joins the cast as Madeleine Swann, along with Andrew Scott (Sherlock's Moriarty) as Denby, a new character at MI6. Former wrestler Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) plays a character named Mr. Hinx, who we can reasonably assume will be the villain's bodyguard or sidekick.
Because this is a Bond film, the casting announcement wasn't complete without some blatant and egregious product placement in the form of 007's new car. Bond fans will not be remotely surprised to hear that it's another Aston Martin, a silver DB10. It goes very fast and has a wheel at each corner.
Mendes is retaining most of the production team from the critically acclaimed Skyfall, one of the most successful Bond films to date. Skyfall's writing team, composer, production designer, and costume designer will be back for Spectre, plus new cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, whose most recent work was on Interstellar.
Photo via 007.com