10 things you need to know about Spectre

‘Spectre’, the 24th official James Bond movie, is released in Irish cinemas today. The film sees Daniel Craig return as the super spy James Bond for the fourth time, and director Sam Mendes return after the success of ‘Skyfall’. With Bond gearing up to face the mysterious and dangerous organisation known as Spectre, Movies.ie have gathered the facts about Bond’s latest adventure for your reading pleasure…

1. Direction
Until Sam Mendes confirmed he would return to direct ‘Spectre’, there were rumours that ‘Interstellar’ director Christopher Nolan was in contention to take over behind the camera. Associate Producer Gregg Wilson has said that Nolan would be a dream choice for the job, so perhaps we are looking at a Nolan Bond flick in the future.

2. Also Considered
Before Sam Mendes signed on the dotted line to direct ‘Spectre’, Ang Lee, Tom Hooper, David Yates, Danny Boyle, Shane Black, Christopher Nolan, and Nicolas Winding Refn were all in the running for the job.

3. What’s in a name?!
‘Spectre’ is not a title used by Ian Fleming in his original series of books. There are only four of Fleming’s books left to be adapted for the big screen; ‘The Property of a Lady’, ‘The Hildebrand Rarity’, ‘Risico’ and ‘007 in New York’, also known as ‘Agent 007 in New York’.

4. Irish Connection
Our own Andrew Scott plays Max Denbigh in ‘Spectre’, but don’t expect him to give anything away. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Scott refused to reveal any details about his character, saying ‘That would spoil the fun, wouldn’t it?’ However, Scott did confirm that his character did wear some suave suits and get to do some ‘fun, proper James Bond-y stuff’. We can’t wait!

5. Cast
As well as Daniel Craig and Andrew Scott, ‘Spectre’ stars Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux and Monica Bellucci. Interestingly, Bellucci, at 50 years of age, is the oldest woman to play opposite any of the incarnations of Bond. The previous record was held by Honor Blackman, who was 38 when she starred in ‘Goldfinger’

6. Wrestlemania
Dave Bautista plays Mr. Hinx in ‘Spectre’, making him the fourth actor with a professional wrestling background to play a James Bond villain. Bautista follows in the footsteps of Harold Sakata in ‘Goldfinger’, Peter Fanene Maivia in ‘You Only Live Twice’ and Pat Roach in ‘Never Say Never Again’.

7. Reunited
Léa Seydoux and Christoph Waltz are reunited in ‘Sprectre’ for the first time since they shared the screen in the opening scene of ‘Inglourious Basterds’. Seydoux played Charlotte LaPadite, and Waltz played the charming but evil Colonel Hans Landa.

8. Winner!
Speaking of Christoph Waltz, he is Christoph Waltz the third Oscar winning actor to play a Bond villain, after Christopher Walken in ‘A View to a Kill’ and Javier Bardem in ‘Skyfall’.

9. Bond Theme
English singer-songwriter Sam Smith is singing the official song for ‘Spectre’. Unlike many previous Bond themes, the song is not named after the film, instead it is titled ‘Writing’s On The Wall’. The single was released on September 28th 2015, and is the first Bond movie theme to reach Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart.
Watch the official video for the song below…

10. When can I see ‘Spectre’?
‘Spectre’ is released in Irish cinemas on October 26th 2015. Watch the trailer below…