James Bond returns to classic roots with 'Spectre'

The movie will be shot in Mexico City, Rome and Tangiers

LONDON: German Oscar winner Christoph Waltz and Italian actress Monica Bellucci will star alongside Britain's Daniel Craig in the next James Bond film "Spectre", in a new outing promising a strong dose of the 007 nostalgia.

The movie - titled after a global criminal organisation featuring in the early Bond films - will be shot in Mexico City, Rome and Tangiers and will also see Britain's famous spy returning to the ski slopes, in Austria, director Sam Mendes said on Thursday at Pinewood Studios.

Speaking on a stage built specifically for the Bond films in the 1970s, Mendes gave nothing away about the plot as he unveiled the casting of what will be the 24th film in the hugely successful series based on author Ian Fleming's fictional Secret Service agent.

Waltz, best known for his expert turns in the Quentin Tarantino movies "Inglorious Basterds" and "Django Unchained", will play the villain in "Spectre", which is due to hit screens in October next year.

Bellucci, who played in the "Matrix" sci-fi trilogy, will also appear, along with newcomers including French actress Lea Seydoux ("Blue is the Warmest Colour") and Andrew Scott, best known for his role as the villain Moriarty in the BBC's "Sherlock" series.

Returning actors to the latest Bond adventure will be Ralph Fiennes, promoted to spy chief M, and Ben Whishaw, who played the Secret Service's technological whiz-kid, both introduced in the last Bond film "Skyfall". The Filipino-American wrestler and actor Dave Bautista is also in.

"We start shooting on Monday," Mendes said.

The director said the cast had begun rehearsals and filming would take around seven months.

Bond will be back behind the wheel of an Aston Martin, a British sportscar long associated with the debonaire 007, Mendes said. The latest model being used, a DB10, was shown on the soundstage alongside the actors.

The title of the new movie harks back to the sinister SPECTRE organisation battled by Bond back when he was incarnated by Sean Connery and then George Lazenby and Roger Moore. SPECTRE's boss, evil genius Ernst Stavro Blofeld, was Bond's nemesis in films from the 1960s to the early 1980s.

The acronym stands for "Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion".

This will be Craig's fourth time playing Bond after "Casino Royale", "Quantum of Solace" and "Skyfall".

"We've got an amazing cast," the 46-year-old told the BBC.

Following the huge box office success of "Skyfall", he said the cast and crew were "a little nervous" about trying to match its performance.

But he added: "Having a challenge like that is pretty good in life".

He also gave little away about the film's plot saying: "I read the script this morning."

Waltz was equally tight-lipped about his role but said it was an honour to take part in the Bond "legend".

"Everybody's seen the Bond movies from childhood on. It's legend. It's practically modern mythology. To participate in that, come on, you don't have to think, you just do it," he said.

Bond has been one of the highest-earning film series ever.

The serial seducer, a government assassin employed by MI6, has been played by Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. Craig infused muscular new energy into the role since taking over in 2006's "Casino Royale".