Sam Mendes said James Bond fans can expect “a little more mischief” in 007′s next adventure as he unveiled a cast including Christoph Waltz and Sherlock star Andrew Scott for the forthcoming film, which will be called Spectre.
The film is named after the shadowy terrorist organisation created by Bond author Ian Fleming which first appeared in his novel Thunderball. It is an acronym for SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion and is led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
Austrian actor Christoph, 58, is to play a character called Oberhausen – the name of the climbing and skiing instructor from Fleming’s books who taught Bond while he was at Fettes College.
It is not yet clear whether there is any connection between Christoph’s screen role and Blofeld. Bond producers regained the rights to the use of the name Blofeld a year ago so the expectation is that he will appear in the film.
Sam, who is in the director’s chair for a second Bond film, said the team were “very excited to be on the verge of shooting” the next instalment.
He said he was going to keep his head down and not read the speculation around the film as it gets under way.
He said: “The pressure is to not let down the audience. The mark of success of a movie is if the audience loves it, they’ll go and see it and tell their friends.
“My only real job from now on is to not read the internet for a year and just get on with making the movie, because otherwise you get caught up in the white noise.”
He said the new film would have “everything you would expect from a Bond movie but, in terms of the last movie, maybe a little more variety, global, maybe a little more mischief, and hopefully we can tell a story that is fit to stand alongside the others”.
French actress Lea Seydoux and Italian star Monica Bellucci will become Bond girls for the latest outing of the British agent, which will see Daniel Craig reprise his role as 007 for a fourth time.
Monica – who will play Lucia Sciarra – said: “James Bond is our fantasy – the ideal man. The man is a protector, he is dangerous, mysterious and sexy, and a perfect English gentleman.”
Asked what makes a good Bond girl, she said: “A good director.”
Lea said she was still unsure what sort of role her character, Madeleine Swann, would have: “I’ve read the script but it only becomes real when you start. For now it’s kind of abstract.”
Speaking about the weight of expectation for a Bond girl, she said: “You have to get rid of the pressure, you just have to invent something new.”
Andrew was giving little away about the character he will play.
“He’s a human being. I play a human man, he’s got black hair and brown eyes,” he teased.
Andrew, 38, is best known for his maniacal performances as arch-villain Moriarty in the BBC1 drama series Sherlock, and is now to play one of the Whitehall staff, Denby.
Lea has starred in films such as Blue Is The Warmest Colour and the 29-year-old has previously shared screen time with Christoph in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 Inglourious Basterds.
Monica, 50, is familiar to cinemagoers through her roles in the likes of The Passion Of The Christ and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Other returning figures include Ralph Fiennes, who comes back as Gareth Mallory – the new M, whom film fans saw succeeding the character played by Dame Judi Dench in Skyfall.
Rory Kinnear returns as Tanner, Naomie Harris is back as Eve Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw has another outing as Q.
Ben is returning to the role of technology whizz-kid Q for a second time, and said it was “slightly less nerve-wracking” this time round.
Dave Bautista, a former WWE wrestler who was in the recent Guardians Of The Galaxy film, will play henchman Mr Hinx.
He said at the launch: “When I first met Sam I didn’t have access to the script at the time and I said ‘Is Mr Hinx a bad-ass?’, and he said ‘Absolutely’.”
He said he auditioned with a scene from Casino Royale.
“Growing up, Sean Connery was my ideal Bond and I think that’s what I like about Daniel so much – he brought back a lot of toughness to Bond,” Bautista added.
Rory said he would miss working with Dame Judi, whose M died in the 2012 film Skyfall.
“It will be very sad, particularly off set because we spent an awful lot of time playing games together, so I think I’m going to have to teach Ralph to play Scrabble,” he joked.
“We never got the full board out but we did have a letters game which we used to play together and we were evenly matched at that, but then she would always wheel out her Shakespeare game where she would start a line and I would have to finish it, which is obviously impossible unless you’re Dame Judi Dench.”
Bond will once again be driving an Aston Martin, this time a DB10. Movie fans saw a previous Aston, his vintage DB5, blown to pieces in Skyfall.
Locations for the new film will include London, Mexico City, Rome, Morocco’s Tangier and Erfoud, as well as Solden in Austria, which promises to see Bond returning to the ski slopes.
“All of them are amazing places. I’m very excited to be going to these locations over seven months, which is how long we’ll be shooting,” said Sam.
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