Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz and director Sam Mendes appeared at a London press conference on Thursday, announcing details about the upcoming James Bond film, now titled Spectre.

James Bond 24 Officially Titled Spectre

Spectre, previously referred to as ‘Bond 24,’ gets its name from the 1961 Bond novel Thunderball. The title is reportedly an acronym for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. The group also appeared in the 1962 Dr No film.

“A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE,” reads Spectre’s official synopsis.

Mendes, who returns to the franchise after directing Bond’s latest outing on the big screen, Skyfall, revealed the new title and the first teaser poster for the film on Tuesday.

Spectre Cast Announced

As for the cast of the secretive film, five new additions include Waltz (Inglorious Bastards, Django Unchained), a two-time Oscar winner known for playing gleeful villains. Waltz will be playing Oberhauser, believed to be a take on Bond villain Blofeld, though that has yet to be confirmed. Blofeld is a Bond super villain who first appeared in three of the original Bond novels and went on to rival Bond in seven films. He is also one of the main inspirations for Austin Powers’ super villain, Dr. Evil. For now, Waltz’s character of Hannes Oberhauser is being described as a former teacher of a young James Bond.

Other new additions include a Sherlock fan-favorite, Andrew Scott, who currently stars on the BBC series as Sherlock’s arch nemesis, Moriarty. Scott is playing a character named Denbigh, and his allegiance is unknown.

As previously reported, Dave Bautista, former WWE star and Guardians of the Galaxy breakout, will appear in the film as the hitman Mr. Hinx.

French actress Lea Seydoux will star as Madeleine Swann.

Finally, joining the Bond cast is Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra.

The returning cast includes, of course, Daniel Craig as James Bond, Ralph Fiennes as M, Ben Wishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny and Rory Kinnear as Tanner. Filming on Spectre is set to begin on Monday, and the film is set for release Nov. 6, 2015.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.