Director Sam Mendes and producer Barbara Broccoli greeted diehard fans of the James Bond franchise and media members this morning with a live stream from the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios to announce the title of the 24th installment the beloved and celebrated spy series. So what is the latest installment of the Daniel Craig arm of the franchise going to be called? Quantum of Solace 2: Solacing the Quantum. Just kidding. It’s SPECTRE.
Feel free to jump straight to complaining about that or freak out and get all giggly like I did, but if you want to know the answer to whether or not Christoph Waltz is actually in the film, join me in the next sentence.
Yes, he is.
As confidently predicted by the Daily Mail, Waltz joins returning cast members Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear and Ben Whishaw, as well as fellow newcomers Léa Seydoux (who will not be playing Miranda Frost as once rumored, but instead Madeleine Swann), Monica Bellucci, Dave Bautista and Andrew Scott. Waltz is not playing Ernst Stavro Blofeld (as widely speculated), at least by name, because he is listed as Oberhauser on the newly-updated IMDB page. We’ll just have to assume that he’s secretly Blofeld and patiently await the “surprise.”
Additionally, the producers unveiled the latest automobile that Bond will be driving in SPECTRE, and like the casting and plot, there were already some rumors (and controversy) for that as well. Everyone can settle down, though, because check out the sexiness of the Aston Martin DB10.
It has been known for at least a week that Bond will be trading in his Aston Martin for a Fiat 500 for at least one crucial scene in SPECTRE, and purists probably aren’t too pleased. But they should at least be happy to know that the Fiat will be used in the Rome car chase that was reported about several months ago, and the car will probably be destroyed in the process.