Strip away all of the glitz and glam of a James Bond release, and you’ll soon discover a number of recurring, nigh on essential features: From the rousing theme song to the iconic gun barrel sequence, not to mention a shaken (not stirred) martini and the inimitable pre-credits sequence. For Spectre, Sam Mendes is really embracing the latter trope, setting out to emulate Skyfall‘s rooftop chase sequence by opening up his blockbuster against the iconic Mexican festival, Dias de los Muertos.
Assembling hundreds of extras, two helicopters and scores of crew members, early featurettes for the espionage thriller have shed some light on the staggering scale of the opening sequence, with all signs pointing to it being one to remember. For today’s new IMAX poster, MGM and Sony have given a courteous nod to the annual celebration, with the one-sheet featuring Daniel Craig’s James Bond donning a rather morbid disguise. Beneath the mask, though, you’ll find those all-too-familiar piercing blue eyes.
Returning to the fray as the 00 agent, Craig’s Bond is primed to embark on his most personal mission to date, as he looks to locate and hunt down the titular, shadowy organization. At the head of the snake is Christoph Waltz’s Franz Oberhauser, the “author” of James Bond’s life of pain and the chief villain of Spectre.
Alongside Craig and Waltz for the hotly-anticipated feature are Naomie Harris Ben Wishaw, Rory Kinnear, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, David Bautista, Léa Seydoux and Andrew Scott.
Spectre opens on October 26 and November 7 in the United Kingdom and North America, respectively.
A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond (Daniel Craig) on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia Sciarra (Monica Bellucci), the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE.
