Breaking: Oh Jimmy! Daniel Craig Returns as 007 in "Spectre"
Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 9:29AM 
It wouldn't be accurate to call James Bond the mother the father of all franchises since serialized storytelling was with us since the very beginning of the recorded image. Nevertheless it does sometimes feel like James Bond pioneered the art of staying in the game. It maybe even influenced the rebooting craze long before it had a name with its continual cosmetic surgery; can you imagine how expensive it is to make Timothy Dalton look like Pierce Brosnan and then like Daniel Craig?
Daniel Craig is among the sexiest mofos on the planet but perhaps this is why he looks so beat up all the time? Either that or because people have been torturing him onscreen from the very beginning.
Case in point: This is not an image from the new Bond film but from the Cate Blanchett film Elizabeth (1998)
The new Bond film which begins production in 4 days and arrives in theaters on November 2015 is the 24th official entry in the series (though there are a two apocryphal films as well) and will be called Spectre. It's worth noting that this is, like Skyfall, a very short title. The shortest Bond titles (though not running times) since Dr. No (1962) which kicked off the whole series! Sam Smith will be doing the theme song.
Sadly, the casting doesn't seem very imaginative since Christoph Waltz is among the villians (i'm sorry but I'm done with him post Big Eyes. His range is shrinking which is quite an overachievement since he already won two Oscars for the same performance!)
The cast in order of TFE's current levels of fandom...
Daniel Craig as Bond, James Bond (returning)
Ralph Fiennes as M (returning)
Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann (new)
Ben Whishaw as Q (returning)
Naomie Harris as Moneypenny (returning)
Andrew Scott as Denbigh (new)
Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra (new)
David Bautista as Mr Hinx (new)
Rory Kinnear as Tanner (recurring)
Christoph Waltz as Oberhauser (new)
Do you think Lea's AMAZING entrance in Ghost Protocol inspired her future Bond Girl femme fatale role (say yes, that's rhetorical)
Do you see every Bond film or wait for the general cultural response? Given Skyfall's historic gross and Oscar over-performance (doubling the entire franchises's Oscar tally!) do you think they're in for another zeitgeist hit and awards contender. Or do you think this one is bound to be a bit of a letdown?
Reader Comments (28)
Wouldn't Skyfall be equally as short of title?
An even better question would be: WHY has it taken this long for Monica Bellucci to be a Bond Girl?!? You'd think she would be at the top of every list what with that bod and that voice!
I will definitely go see this because I love Bond (I'm currently slowly rewatching the whole saga, starting from Dr No) and really enjoyed Skyfall. However, I think Mendes would've been wiser to go out on a high with the ubersuccess of Skyfall and leave it to another director, rather than try to top himself. I'm also disappointed that the rumours of Penélope Cruz as a new Bond girl didn't turn out to be true (Belucci could be good, but I love me some Pé).
I'm not standing in line on opening day but usually see the Bonds within a week or two of release, by and large they've been decent films.
I'm with denny about Monica Bellucci being an excellent addition hopefully she won't be a minor player. I have nothing against Christoph Waltz but I wish the casting of the villain had been more imaginative.
I see every Daniel Craig Bond films. I haven't seen any of the older ones.
That said, oh how gay this movie should/could be... Sam Smith is doing the theme song, Andrew Scott is new, Whishaw returning, and hopefully the return of Craig's booty.
I'm not a Bond fan (I loved Skyfall, but I've only ever seen another one, Die Another Day, and I have no memory of it apart from the song) but I'll watch it because the cast is so great. I've had a raging crush on Andrew Scott since I saw Pride so yes, please.
I've seen all Bond movies many times so I'll watch this too but I have to admit that I'm not a "SkyFall" fan - one of the least "Bondy" Bond movies ever. I hope that "SPECTRE" will be MUCH, MUCH better.
I like Waltz - IMO he played completely different roles in "Django" and "Inglorious..." but whatever. :P
"Spectre" has 7 letters, "SkyFall" also had 7.
And Rory Kinnear isn't new. He played Tanner in "Quantum of Solace" and "SkyFall".
I think I've seen all of the Bond films except Quantum of Solace and the second Timothy Dalton one.
I already miss Judi Dench dreadfully. She gave the series a shot in the arm and rejuvenated Bond from a chauvinistic dinosaur. With Ralph Fiennes as M, it's just too old boys club again for me.
My dearest wish for this Bond film is that Ralph Fiennes' character dies and is replaced by Emma Thompson as M.
i have updated the post with your communal nitpicking.
denny - right? (bellucci)
carlos -- yeah, i don't get Mendes decision either unless they just offered him enough money to retire and he thought 'why the hell not?'
Most excited about Monica Belluci. As everyone else said, how hasn't she already been in one of these? And props to the producers for actually casting an actress who is *gasp* age appropriate for the male lead. Would love if they went against expectations and had her as the villain over Waltz. Have there been any female lead villains besides Sophie Marceau?
I am excited with these choices except for Waltz. I wish the rumor about Chiwetel Ejiofor being the Bond villain were true but I am looking forward to this nonetheless.
Nat, I didn't know you dislike Waltz that much. Didn't you give him gold for Basterds?
Drew -- i l-o-v-e-d Waltz in Basterds. But that turn in Django was so carbon copy (and a second Oscar? ugh) and he's terrible in Big Eyes. I'm done.
He was marvelous in both IB and Django (and they're absolutely NOT the same role), but what else beyond Carnage (MVP there too)?
He is getting so typecast that when he does something different he'll be nominated again and even win, like Walter Brennan. I think he should stop a little bit, star in that revival of Sweeney Todd he wants to do (he sings!) and then come back with better roles.
Huge Bond nerd here, always see the new movies with my mom, who put me on to the series when I was a little kid.
Skyfall is far from my favorite Bond movie (it's not even my favorite Craig movie). It's a really weird movie - a reboot of a reboot (after Casino Royale), and positing that his whole career is actually premised on his catastrophic failure to stop Javier Bardem from killing M. I mean, really - Bond COMPLETELY fails in Skyfall. Completely. He succeeds by failing. It's weird.
Still, I'm excited for the new one, mostly because I've been dying for them to bring back S.P.E.C.T.R.E and Ernst Blofeld, and it looks like they're headed firmly in that direction now.
What a sexy sexy cast.
On the one hand I didn't like 'Skyfall' and am also completely over Christoph Waltz...
...on the other, Lea Seydoux!!! and Ralph Fiennes!!! (who has gained all my affection post-Budapest)
"Would love if they went against expectations and had her as the villain over Waltz. Have there been any female lead villains besides Sophie Marceau?" - Chris
I don't know why they are so reluctant to have a female villain be front and center. Elektra was a good start but come on. I'm all for Monica ending up being the main antagonist but I also wouldn't be surprised if she ends up dead like SPOILERS?
Solange (Casino Royale), Agent Fields (Quantum) or Severine (Skyfall) halfway through the film.
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"i l-o-v-e-d Waltz in Basterds. But that turn in Django was so carbon copy (and a second Oscar? ugh)" - Nathaniel
AGREED. I normally would have cheered at Waltz getting a second Oscar after being so delightful in Basterds but Django was just a diet version of what he did with Landa.
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Is Sam Smith confirmed as singing the theme song? I'm not against it. I know the last song was a big brassy torch ballad (i LOVED Adele's Skyfall) but i totally want one from him too.
I don't care what they're calling Waltz's character, he's playing Blofeld. And aside from his casting, this announcement made my day.
I'm a long time Bond fan, ('nuff said) and this line up looks good, with the exception of Waltz.
Ralph Fiennes was less colourful than Dench in Skyfall, but hopefully they will flesh his character out a bit. Emma Thompson as M is a great idea, but we could add Thompson to any film and automatically make it better.
I very much like Christoph Waltz, but yes, having him play a villain is pretty uninspired. Though he'd probably be good at "morally ambiguous" so hopefully he won't be too cartoony.
Speaking of Emma Thompson, why can't SHE be the villain? Aren't they always stroking their pet cats? Who better to play the ultimate crazy cat lady?
Can't wait to see Monica and Lea wearing fab outfits!
Totally agree on Waltz.
I love this Craig reboot.... well, I loved Royale. I agree that Skyfall, though much ballyhooed, was not a very "Bond"-y movie. I need more fun.
The casting is awesome. Plus the fact that SPECTRE is returning w/ Blofeld maybe returning? Oh, I'll definitely be there.
MONICA BELLUCCI. MONICA BELLUCCI. MONICA BELLUCCI.
Sorry, that's all I read.
*insert YASSS gif here*
If it's Bond, I'm there -- front row, midnight show.
Love Christoph Waltz, love that he has two Oscars, love that he's probably Blofeld.
I, too, am shocked it has taken this long for Bond to welcome Monica Bellucci. Glad she's finally part of it.
What in the world would a song for a film called SPECTRE sound like?
I'm already trying to get tickets.......I'm that much of a Bond nerd and have been since the first one I saw (I swear, it was like the first time a baby tastes sugar.). I'm thrilled to see Monica in this, I don't care if it took this long, I'm glad she is there.
I'm a Lana Del Rey super fan and I had been hoping they'd ask her to do the theme since, I mean, she's more James Bond than any other current artist. And then I saw an article like a month ago saying she was in the running but they went with Sam Smith. I'm not a Sam Smith fan, but I hope he does well. Hopefully she gets the next film.
Monica Bellucci!!!!!!!
Exciting cast. The name "Oberhauser" is from the short story Octopussy, and is an ally, however, rumor mill has him as Blofeld.
Also, Jesper Christensen confirms that he will return in the role of Mr. White, causing widespread fan speculation on the relationship between the organizations Quantum and Spectre.
How on earth am I to wait 11 months?