Spectre

Spectre is a 2015 spy film and the twenty-fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures. Directed by Sam Mendes and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan, and Jez Butterworth, it stars Daniel Craig as Bond, alongside Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, and Ralph Fiennes. In the film, Bond learns of Spectre, an international crime organisation led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Waltz).

Despite initially stating he would not direct Spectre, Mendes confirmed his return in 2014 after Nicolas Winding Refn declined to direct; Mendes became the first to direct successive James Bond films since John Glen. The inclusion of Spectre and its associated characters marked the end of the Thunderball controversy, in which Kevin McClory and Fleming were embroiled in lengthy legal disputes over the film rights to the novel; Spectre is the first film to feature these elements since Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Following the Sony Pictures hack, it was revealed Sony and Eon clashed regarding finance, stunts, and filming locations; Spectre is estimated to have a final budget of $245–300 million, making it one of the most expensive films ever made. Principal photography began in December 2014 and lasted until July 2015, with filming locations including Austria, the United Kingdom, Italy, Morocco, and Mexico.

Spectre premiered at the Royal Albert Hall on 26 October 2015 and was theatrically released in conventional and IMAX formats in the United Kingdom that day, and in the United States on 6 November. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the action sequences, cast performances (particularly Craig's and Bautista's), and the musical score, but criticised the pacing and formulaic narrative decisions. It grossed $880 million worldwide, making it the sixth-highest grossing film of 2015 and the second-highest grossing James Bond film after Skyfall, unadjusted for inflation. The film's theme song, "Writing's on the Wall", won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. The next film in the series, No Time to Die, was released in 2021.

Storyline[]

Plot[]

A cryptic message from the past leads James Bond (Daniel Craig) to Mexico City and Rome, where he meets the beautiful widow (Monica Bellucci) of an infamous criminal. After infiltrating a secret meeting, 007 uncovers the existence of the sinister organization SPECTRE. Needing the help of the daughter of an old nemesis, he embarks on a mission to find her. As Bond ventures toward the heart of SPECTRE, he discovers a chilling connection between himself and the enemy (Christoph Waltz) he seeks.

Genres[]

Action
Spy
Adventure
Thriller
Crime film

Motion Picture Rating[]

13 (Argentina) (with warning)
M (Australia)
12 (Austria)
14 (Brazil)
PG (Canada) (Alberta)
PG (Canada) (British Columbia)
PG (Canada) (Manitoba)
PG (Canada) (Ontario)
G (Canada) (Quebec)
TE+7 (Chile)
12 (Czechia) (HBO)
15 (Czechia) (original rating)
11 (Denmark)
PG-13 (Egypt) (self-applied)
K-12 (Finland)
Tous publics (France)
12 (Germany)
IIA (Hong Kong)
16 (Hungary)
12 (Iceland)
UA (India)
D (Indonesia)
12A (Ireland)
12 (Ireland) (Blu-ray rating)
ALL (Israel)
T (Italy)
G (Japan)
N-13 (Lithuania)
P13 (Malaysia)
12A (Malta)
B (Mexico)
12 (Netherlands)
M (New Zealand)
12 (Norway) (cinema rating)
PG-13 (Philippines)
12 (Poland) (self-applied)
M/12 (Portugal)
12+ (Russia)
PG13 (Singapore)
13 (South Africa)
15 (South Korea)
12 (Spain)
11 (Sweden)
12 (Switzerland)
R-15 (Taiwan)
13 (Thailand)
13A (Turkey)
12A (UK)
12 (UK) (DVD rating)
PG-13 (USA)
PG-15 (United Arab Emirates) (self-applied)
C16 (Vietnam)

Images[]

Cast and Crew[]

Director[]

Sam Mendes

Writing Credits[]

John Logan (screenplay by) and
Neal Purvis (screenplay by) &
Robert Wade (screenplay by) and
Jez Butterworth (screenplay by)
John Logan (story by) and
Neal Purvis (story by) &
Robert Wade (story by)
Ian Fleming (characters)

Cast[]

Daniel Craig - James Bond
Christoph Waltz - Blofeld
Léa Seydoux - Madeleine
Ralph Fiennes - M
Monica Bellucci - Lucia
Ben Whishaw - Q
Naomie Harris - Moneypenny
Dave Bautista - Hinx
Andrew Scott - C
Rory Kinnear - Tanner
Jesper Christensen - Mr. White
Alessandro Cremona - Marco Sciarra
Stephanie Sigman - Estrella
Tenoch Huerta - Mexican Man in Lift
Adriana Paz - Mexican Woman in Lift
Domenico Fortunato - Gallo
Marco Zingaro - Gallo's Accomplice
Stefano Elfi DiClaudia - Gallo's Accomplice (as Stefano Elfi-DiClaudia)
Ian Bonar - Q's Assistant
Tam Williams - Moneypenny's Boyfriend
Richard Banham - Blofeld's London Helicopter Pilot
Pip Carter - SC019 Police Commander
Simon Lenagan - SC019 Police Officer
Alessandro Bressanello - Priest
Marc Zinga - Moreau
Brigitte Millar - Vogel
Adel Bencherif - Abrika
Gediminas Adomaitis - Blofeld's Right Hand Man
Peppe Lanzetta - Lorenzo
Francesco Arca - Francesco
Matteo Taranto - Marco
Emilio Aniba - Palazzo Security
Benito Sagredo - Guerra
Dai Tabuchi - Businessman
George Lasha - Businessman
Sargon Yelda - Businessman
Andy Cheung - Businessman
Erick Hayden - Marshall
Oleg Mirochnikov - Valerian
Antonio Salines - Fiat Driver
Miloud Mourad Benamara - Street Sweeper
Gido Schimanski - Chairman
Nigel Barber - Head of Nation
Patrice Naiambana - Head of Nation
Stephane Cornicard - Head of Nation
Gary Fannin - Head of Nation
Sadao Ueda - Head of Nation
Phillip Law - Head of Nation (as Philip Law)
Wai Wong - Head of Nation
Joseph Balderrama - Head of Nation
Eiji Mihara - Aide
Junichi Kajioka - Aide
Victor Schefé - Clinic Barman (as Victor Schefe)
Harald Windisch - Clinic Security Guard
Tristan Matthiae - Clinic Security Guard
Detlef Bothe - Cable Car Heavy
Bodo Friesecke - Cable Car Heavy
Wilhelm Iben - Syringe Heavy (as Wilhem Iben)
Noemi Krausz - Snowboarder
Noah Saavedra - Snowboarder
Francis Attakpah - Snowboarder
Michael Glantschnig - Snowboarder
Marlon Boess - Snowboarder
Marie Fee Wohlmuth - Snowboarder (as Marie Wohlmuth)
Lili Epply - Snowboarder
Konstantin Gerlach - Snowboarder
Lara Parmiani - L'Americain Manager (as Lara Parmiani-Williams)
Umit Ulgen - Train Guard
Amra Mallassi - Train Waiter
Ziad Abaza - Train Barman
Walid Mumuni - Blofeld's Chauffeur
Derek Horsham - Blofeld's Guard
Nari Blair-Mangat - Blofeld's Guard (as Nari Blair Mangat)
Michael White - Blofeld's Butler
Adam McGrady - Blofeld's Waiter
Nader Dernaika - Blofeld's Analyst
Pezh Maan - Blofeld's Chief Analyst (as Pezhmaan Alinia)

Other Cast (in alphabetical order)[]

Nad Abdoolakhan - Businessman Passerby (uncredited)
Charlie Akin - Mechanic (uncredited)
Adil Akram - Oberhauser analyst (uncredited)
Alister Albert - Oberhauser Staff (uncredited)
Lasco Atkins - Businessman (uncredited)
Omar Ayala - Federal 1 Mex. (uncredited)
David Olawale Ayinde - South African (uncredited)
Mohan Banerji - London Businessman (uncredited)
Steve Barnett - Russian Bodyguard (uncredited)
Mark Baxter - Business Professional (uncredited)
Paul Blackwell - Car Driver (uncredited)
Gerardo Bosco - Groom (uncredited)
Tom Bourlet - Guard (uncredited)
Lorenzo Brambilla - Skeleton (uncredited)
Matthew Brandon - Computer Analyst (uncredited)
Harry Brewis - Passer-by (uncredited)
Dante Briggins - Clinic Patron (uncredited)
Jill Buchanan - London Business Woman (uncredited)
Oliver Cantú Lozano - Skeleton Dancer (uncredited)
Calvin Chen - Villains Engineer (uncredited)
Mahmud Chowdhury - Lair Staff Data Analyst (uncredited)
Eric Coco - Bodyguard (uncredited)
Maurisa Selene Coleman - Mexican Sprite (uncredited)
Bern Collaço - Train Restaurant Diner (uncredited)
Fabio Colonna - Groom (uncredited)
Christopher DeGress - Skeleton (uncredited)
Alan Del Castillo - Groom (uncredited)
Judi Dench - M (uncredited)
Leigh Dent - Car driver (uncredited)
Filip Dordievski - Ukrainian Hitman (uncredited)
Steve Doyle - Businessman (uncredited)
Daniel Eghan - Businessman with Umbrella (uncredited)
Leila Elbahy - Business Woman Passerby (uncredited)
Marc Esse - Bodyguard (uncredited)
Karl Farrer - Businessman (uncredited)
Lucy Figueroa - Citizen (uncredited)
Neve Gachev - Clinic Patron (uncredited)
Gloria Garcia - U.S. Mob Boss (uncredited)
David Georgiou - Lair Staff (uncredited)
Tim Hammersley - Spectre Analyst (uncredited)
Sam Hanover - Festival Spectator (uncredited)
Bunmi Hazzan - Oberhauser Guard (uncredited)
David Howkins - Spectre Boss (uncredited)
Daniel Jones - Clinic Body Guard (uncredited)
Justified - Lair Staff (uncredited)
Samantha Kelly - Train Restaurant Diner (uncredited)
Attila G. Kerekes - Q Branch Technician (uncredited)
Kaveh Khatiri - Computer Technician (uncredited)
Denis Khoroshko - Palazzo Russian Boss (uncredited)
Darryl Lane - Bodyguard (uncredited)
Jorge Leon - SCO19 Firearms Command Police (uncredited)
Rogers Leona - Businesswoman (uncredited)
Volenté Lloyd - Businesswoman (uncredited)
Tyrone Love - Oberhauser Employee (uncredited)
Shaun Lucas - Businessman (uncredited)
Johnny Lynch - Security Guard (uncredited)
Sid Man - Boss - Palazzo Meeting (uncredited)
Joanne Manchester - Business Woman (uncredited)
Gary Mancini - Restaurant passerby (uncredited)
Sergio Mariano - Paper Groom (uncredited)
Garry Marriott - Paramedic (uncredited)
Christopher Michael J. Marsh - Spectre Analyst (uncredited)
Nicholas Marshall - Lair Staff (uncredited)
Alex Martin - Guard #1 (uncredited)
Martyn Mayger - London Passerby (uncredited)
Pete Meads - Motorist (uncredited)
Bradley Wj Miller - Passerby (uncredited)
Keith Milner - Bystander (uncredited)
Haaris Mirza - Spectre Bodyguard (uncredited)
Sandeep Mohan - Armed Police (uncredited)
Matija Matovic Mondi - Pilot David (uncredited)
Martín Montellano - Tourist (uncredited)
Stefania Montesolaro - Government Official (uncredited)
Arnold Montey - Festival Spectator (uncredited)
James M.L. Muller - Lair Staff Analyst (uncredited)
Benjayx Murphy - German Businessman (uncredited)
Taylor Murphy - Hitman (uncredited)
Mahel Nahim - Will (uncredited)
Kumud Pant - Lair Staff (uncredited)
Ashish Patel - Lair staff (uncredited)
Richard Pearce - Bodyguard (uncredited)
Mac Pietowski - Russian Bodyguard (uncredited)
Mike Ray - Businessman (uncredited)
Graham j Reeves - Simon Wilkinson MI6 (uncredited)
Michael Riedacher - Rome Tourist (uncredited)
Angel Rossell - Tourist at Mexican Hotel (uncredited)
Vuksan Rovcanin - Russian Boss (uncredited)
Maurice Sardison - Diplomat (uncredited)
Jason Saunders - Mi6 Agent (uncredited)
Linus Scheithauer - Oberhauser Staff (uncredited)
Rashid Shadat - Iraqi Spy (uncredited)
Lady Conny Sharples - Corpse Bride (uncredited)
Stuart Shepherd-Garner - Police (uncredited)
Sam Shoubber - Italian Bodyguard (uncredited)
Weiwei Si - Italy Chinese Boss (uncredited)
Ernesto Siller - Turist (uncredited)
Toshi Sinha - Eva Moneypenny (uncredited)
Gerard Smith - MI5 Spy (uncredited)
Clem So - Spectre Crime Boss (uncredited)
Daran Somers - Commuter (uncredited)
Adrian South - Ukrainian Bodyguard (uncredited)
Karol Steele - Londoner (uncredited)
Daniel Stisen - Russian Bodyguard (uncredited)
Ellen Claire Sutherland - Eyes in Title Sequence (uncredited)
Phil Tillott - City Banker / Businessman (uncredited)
Winson Ting - Lab Worker (uncredited)
Chuen Tsou - Bodyguard (uncredited)
Romeo Visca - Bodyguard (uncredited)
Tony Paul West - Spectre Mob Boss (uncredited)
Paul Weston - Franz Oberhauser's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Daniel Westwood - Police Marksman (uncredited)
Chris Wilson - Aide to head of Nation America (uncredited)
Gregg Wilson - Man in corridor when M and C meet (uncredited)
Michael G. Wilson - Man in corridor when M and C meet (uncredited)
Danielle Yen - Samantha Goodman (uncredited)
Miroslav Zaruba - Palazzo Bodyguard (uncredited)
Ruolan Zhang - Clinic VIP Guest (uncredited)
Dominic Zwemmer - Ukrainian Boss (uncredited)
Julio César Álvarez - Skeleton Clone (uncredited)

Producers[]

Zakaria Alaoui (line producer: Morocco) (as Zak Alaoui)
Barbara Broccoli
Daniel Craig (co-producer)
Roberto Malerba (line producer: Italy)
Callum McDougall (executive producer)
Andrew Noakes (co-producer)
Stacy Perskie (co-producer: Mexico) (as Stacy Perskie Kaniss)
David Pope (co-producer)
Wolfgang Ramml (line producer: Austria) (as Dr. Wolfgang Ramml)
Jayne-Ann Tenggren (associate producer)
Gregg Wilson (associate producer)
Michael G. Wilson (producer)

Details[]

Country[]

UK
USA

Language[]

English

Release Dates[]

October 26, 2015 (UK)
October 26, 2015 (Ireland)
October 29, 2015 (Netherlands)
October 30, 2015 (Denmark)
October 30, 2015 (Finland)
October 30, 2015 (Norway)
October 30, 2015 (Sweden)
November 4, 2015 (Belgium)
November 4, 2015 (Indonesia)
November 4, 2015 (Luxembourg)
November 4, 2015 (Philippines)
November 5, 2015 (United Arab Emirates)
November 5, 2015 (Albania)
November 5, 2015 (Argentina)
November 5, 2015 (Bahrain)
November 5, 2015 (Brazil)
November 5, 2015 (Belarus)
November 5, 2015 (Switzerland) (German speaking region)
November 5, 2015 (Switzerland) (Italian speaking region)
November 5, 2015 (Chile)
November 5, 2015 (Colombia)
November 5, 2015 (Czechia)
November 5, 2015 (Germany)
November 5, 2015 (Ecuador)
November 5, 2015 (Egypt)
November 5, 2015 (Croatia)
November 5, 2015 (Hungary)
November 5, 2015 (Israel)
November 5, 2015 (Italy)
November 5, 2015 (Kuwait)
November 5, 2015 (Kazakhstan)
November 5, 2015 (Lebanon)
November 5, 2015 (North Macedonia)
November 5, 2015 (Mexico)
November 5, 2015 (Malaysia)
November 5, 2015 (Peru)
November 5, 2015 (Portugal)
November 5, 2015 (Serbia)
November 5, 2015 (Russia)
November 5, 2015 (Singapore)
November 5, 2015 (Slovenia)
November 5, 2015 (Slovakia)
November 5, 2015 (Thailand)
November 5, 2015 (Taiwan)
November 5, 2015 (Ukraine)
November 5, 2015 (Venezuela)
November 6, 2015 (Austria)
November 6, 2015 (Bulgaria)
November 6, 2015 (Canada)
November 6, 2015 (Estonia)
November 6, 2015 (Spain)
November 6, 2015 (Georgia)
November 6, 2015 (Hong Kong)
November 6, 2015 (Iraq)
November 6, 2015 (Iceland)
November 6, 2015 (Lithuania)
November 6, 2015 (Latvia)
November 6, 2015 (Pakistan)
November 6, 2015 (Poland)
November 6, 2015 (Romania)
November 6, 2015 (Turkey)
November 6, 2015 (USA)
November 6, 2015 (Vietnam)
November 11, 2015 (Switzerland) (French speaking region)
November 11, 2015 (France)
November 11, 2015 (South Korea)
November 12, 2015 (Australia)
November 12, 2015 (Greece)
November 12, 2015 (Uruguay)
November 13, 2015 (China)
November 13, 2015 (Cambodia)
November 20, 2015 (India)
November 27, 2015 (South Africa)
December 4, 2015 (Japan)
September 27, 2021 (Switzerland) (Zurich Film Festival)

Also Known As[]

007: Spectre (Argentina)
Spectre (Australia)
007 Contra Spectre (Brazil)
Спектър (Bulgaria) (Bulgarian title)
Spectre (Canada) (French title)
Spectre (Canada) (English title)
007 Spectre (Canada) (alternative title)
Spectre (Chile)
Spectre (Czechia)
Spectre (Egypt) (English title)
007: Spectre (Estonia)
007 Spectre (Finland)
Spectre 007 (Finland) (DVD title)
007 Spectre (France)
Speqtri (Georgia)
James Bond 007: Spectre (Germany)
Spectre (Greece)
007：鬼影帝國 (Hong Kong) (Cantonese title)
Spectre - A Fantom visszatér (Hungary)
Spectre (India) (English title)
Spectre (India) (Hindi title)
Spectre (Indonesia) (English title)
Spectre (Israel) (Hebrew title)
Spectre (Italy)
007 スペクター (Japan) (Japanese title)
Спектр: 007 (Kazakhstan)
007: Spektrs (Latvia)
Spektras (Lithuania)
007: Spectre (Mexico)
Spectre (Netherlands)
James Bond: Spectre (Norway)
Spectre (Philippines) (English title)
Spectre (Poland)
007 Spectre (Portugal)
007: Спектр (Russia)
Спектра (Serbia)
Spectre (Singapore) (English title)
James Bond: Spectre (Slovakia)
Spectre (South Korea)
Spectre (Sweden)
007：惡魔四伏 (Taiwan)
Spectre (Thailand) (English title)
Spectre (Turkey) (Turkish title)
007: Спектр (Ukraine)
Spectre (United Arab Emirates)
Spectre (UK)
Bond 24 (USA) (working title)
Spectre (USA)
Spektr (Uzbekistan)
Bóng Ma (Vietnam)
Bond24 (World-wide) (English title) (working title)
Spectre (World-wide) (English title) (new title)
The Death Collector (World-wide) (English title) (working title)

Production[]

Pre-production[]

In March 2013, Mendes said he would not return to direct the next film in the series, then known as Bond 24; he later recanted and announced that he would return, as he found the script and the plans for the long-term future of the franchise appealing. Nicolas Winding Refn would later reveal that he turned down an offer to direct the film. In directing Skyfall and Spectre, Mendes became the first director to oversee two successive Bond films since John Glen directed five consecutive films, ending with Licence to Kill in 1989. Dennis Gassner returned as the film's production designer, while cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema took over from Roger Deakins. In July 2015 Mendes noted that the combined crew of Spectre numbered over one thousand, making it a larger production than Skyfall. Craig is listed as co-producer. He considered the credit a high point of his career, saying, "I'm just so proud of the fact that my name comes up somewhere else on the titles."

The film's usage of the Spectre organisation and its characters marked the end of long-standing litigation between Eon Productions and producer Kevin McClory, who sued James Bond creator Ian Fleming in 1961 claiming ownership over elements of the novel Thunderball, and in an out of court settlement two years later, was awarded the novel's film rights, including Spectre and its characters. McClory died in 2006, and in November 2013 MGM and the McClory estate formally settled the issue with Danjaq, sister company of Eon Productions—with MGM acquiring the full copyright film rights to the concept of Spectre and all of the characters associated with it. It has been suggested that with the acquisition of the film rights and the organisation's re-introduction to the series' continuity, the SPECTRE acronym was discarded and the organisation reimagined as "Spectre".

When Sony Pictures Entertainment renegotiated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures the deal to co-finance the Bond franchise in 2011, they were tasked to provide 25% of the negative cost of both Skyfall and Spectre, in exchange for receiving 25% of the profits plus distribution fees for overseeing its worldwide rollout. When the film was announced in June 2013, the budget was not yet fixed, but was certain to be higher than the $210 million of Skyfall due to foreign locations and bigger payments for Mendes and Craig. In November 2014, Sony was targeted by hackers who released details of confidential e-mails between Sony executives regarding several high-profile film projects. Included within these were several memos relating to the production of Spectre, claiming that the film was over budget, detailing early drafts of the script written by John Logan, and expressing Sony's frustration with the project. Eon Productions later issued a statement confirming the leak of what they called "an early version of the screenplay". Eon resisted Sony and MGM's arguments to cut down on stunts and location work to reduce the budget, but managed to secure tax incentives and rebates, such as $14 million from Mexico. Spectre has a final budget estimated between $250 million and $275 million.

Writing[]

Spectre marked the return of many scriptwriters from the previous Bond films, such as Skyfall writer John Logan; Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who had done work in five previous Bond films, and British playwright Jez Butterworth, who had previously made uncredited contributions to Skyfall. Butterworth was brought in to polish the script, being helped by Mendes and Craig. Butterworth considered that his changes involved adding what he would like to see as a teenager, and limited the scenes with Bond talking to men, as "Bond shoots other men—he doesn't sit around chatting to them. So you put a line through that." With the acquisition of the rights to Spectre and its associated characters, Purvis and Wade revealed that the film would provide a minor retcon to the continuity of the previous films, with the Quantum organisation alluded to in Casino Royale and introduced in Quantum of Solace reimagined as a division within Spectre rather than an independent organisation which is implied to be no longer active by the film's events. The plot of Spectre also linked the events of Skyfall to Craig's first two Bond movies by revealing antagonist Raoul Silva to be associated with Spectre reverting Skyfall's initial solo story status.

Despite being an original story, Spectre draws on Ian Fleming's source material, most notably in the character of Franz Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz, and his father Hannes. Hannes Oberhauser is a background character in the short story "Octopussy" from the Octopussy and The Living Daylights collection, and is named in the film as having been a temporary legal guardian of a young Bond in 1983. As Sam Mendes searched for events in young Bond's life to follow the childhood discussed in Skyfall, he came across Hannes Oberhauser, who becomes a father figure to Bond. From there, Mendes conceived the idea of "a natural child who had been pushed out, cuckoo in the nest" by Bond, which became Franz. Similarly, Charmian Bond is shown to have been his full-time guardian, observing the back story established by Fleming.

Casting[]

The main cast was revealed in December 2014 at the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios. Daniel Craig returned for his fourth appearance as James Bond, while Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw reprised their roles as M, Eve Moneypenny and Q respectively, having been established in Skyfall. Rory Kinnear also reprised his role as Bill Tanner in his third appearance in the series.

Christoph Waltz was cast in the role of Franz Oberhauser, though he refused to comment on the nature of the part. It was later revealed with the film's release that he is Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Waltz got interested in the film for dealing with technology-assisted mass surveillance, "speaking about relevant social issues in a way that few Bonds have done before", and denied rumours that the role was written specially for him, but added that "when I came on board, the role grew, evolved, and mutated."

Dave Bautista was cast as Mr Hinx after producers sought an actor with a background in contact sports. The character only has one line in the entire film, "Shit". Sam Mendes thought the silent nature would drive Bautista away, but the lifelong Bond fan expressed interest in reviving the quiet henchman archetype of characters such as Jaws. Bautista's performance was inspired mostly by Oddjob from Goldfinger, and said not talking created an acting challenge, "trying to find this way where I am actually going to have to speak without speaking." After casting Bérénice Marlohe, a relative newcomer, as Sévérine in Skyfall, Mendes sought out a more experienced actor for the role of Madeleine Swann, ultimately casting Léa Seydoux in the role. Monica Bellucci joined the cast as Lucia Sciarra, becoming, at the age of fifty, the oldest actress to be cast as a Bond girl. She had previously auditioned for the role of Paris Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies, but was passed over in favour of Teri Hatcher. In a separate interview with Danish website Euroman, Jesper Christensen revealed he would be reprising his role as Mr White from Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Christensen's character was reportedly killed off in a scene intended to be used as an epilogue to Quantum of Solace, before it was removed from the final cut of the film, enabling his return in Spectre.

In addition to the principal cast, Alessandro Cremona was cast as Marco Sciarra, Stephanie Sigman was cast as Estrella, and Detlef Bothe was cast as a villain for scenes shot in Austria. In February 2015 over 1,500 background artistes were hired for the pre-title sequence set in Mexico, though they were replicated in the film, giving the effect of around 10,000 extras.

Filming[]

Mendes revealed that production would begin on 8 December 2014 at Pinewood Studios, with filming taking seven months. Mendes also confirmed several filming locations, including London, Mexico City and Rome. Van Hoytema shot the film mostly on Kodak 35mm film stock (in addition to digital cameras such as the 6K Arri Alexa 65mm), in contrast to Skyfall being filmed solely on digital cameras. Early filming took place at Pinewood Studios, and around London, with scenes variously featuring Craig and Harris at Bond's flat, and Craig and Kinnear travelling down the River Thames.

Filming was carried out in Austria between December 2014 and February 2015, with production taking place in the area around Sölden—including the Ötztal Glacier Road, Rettenbach glacier and the adjacent ski resort plus cable car station—Obertilliach and Lake Altaussee. Scenes filmed in Austria centred on the Ice Q Restaurant, standing in for the fictional Hoffler Klinik, a private medical clinic in the Austrian Alps. Filming included an action scene featuring a Land Rover Defender Bigfoot and a Range Rover Sport. Various airplane models were used in filming, from a life-sized plane with detachable wings to film the crash in the woods, to plane fuselages either built atop snowmobiles or shot from nitrogen cannons. Production was temporarily halted first by an injury to Craig, who suffered a meniscus tear whilst shooting a fight scene with Bautista, and later by an accident involving a filming vehicle that saw three crew members injured, at least one of them seriously.

Filming temporarily returned to England to shoot scenes at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, which stood in for a location in Rome, before moving on to the city itself for a five-week shoot across the city, with locations including the Ponte Sisto bridge and the Roman Forum. The production faced opposition from a variety of special interest groups and city authorities, who were concerned about the potential for damage to historical sites around the city, and problems with graffiti and rubbish appearing in the film. Special effects supervisor Chris Corbould stated the scenes had to be extensively planned prior to filming specially to avoid any mishaps, going to the point of building protection above steps where cars would drive. A car chase scene set along the banks of the Tiber River and through the streets of Rome featured an Aston Martin DB10 (a model developed especially for the film, with only 10 examples produced) and a Jaguar C-X75. The C-X75 was originally developed as a hybrid electric vehicle with four independent electric engines powered by two jet turbines, before the project was cancelled. The version used for filming was converted to use a conventional internal combustion engine, to minimise the potential for disruption from mechanical problems with the complex hybrid system. The C-X75s used for filming were developed by the engineering division of Formula One racing team Williams, who built the original C-X75 prototype for Jaguar. Remote driving pods were built above the cars so the vehicles could be driven while the cameras focused on Craig and Bautista in the steering wheel. According to chief stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell, filming the chase had the "risk of skidding into the Vatican", and led to "a record for smashing up cars in Spectre—seven Aston Martins in all," with the film's car expenses estimated at £24 million ($48 million).

With filming completed in Rome, production moved to Mexico City in late March to shoot the film's opening sequence, with scenes to include the Day of the Dead festival filmed in and around the Zócalo and the Centro Histórico district. At the time, no such Day of the Dead parade like the one from the film took place in Mexico City; in 2016, due to the interest raised by Spectre and the government's desire to promote the pre-Hispanic Mexican culture, the federal and local authorities decided to organise an actual "Día de Muertos" parade through Paseo de la Reforma and Centro Histórico on 29 October 2016, which was attended by 250,000 people. The film opens with a long take that joins six shots seamlessly, and was one of the few scenes that required previsualisation. Through extensive planning, filming did not require motion control cameras. The scene joints were done in post-production through re-timing and re-projections, which even matched Mexico locations with interiors filmed at Pinewood.

The planned scenes required the city square to be closed for filming a sequence involving a fight aboard a Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 105CBS helicopter flown by stunt pilot Chuck Aaron, which called for modifications to be made to several buildings to prevent damage. This particular scene in Mexico required 1,500 extras, 10 giant skeletons and 250,000 paper flowers. Reports in the Mexican media added that the film's second unit would move to Palenque in the state of Chiapas, to film aerial manoeuvres considered too dangerous to shoot in an urban area. These were pasted over a computer-generated square and crowd below the helicopter, with motion capture doubles fighting inside. Mendes and the effects team felt that this approach "would get believable composition and movement" compared to adding a digital helicopter above the Mexico City location. Following filming in Mexico, and during a scheduled break, Craig was flown to New York to undergo minor surgery to fix his knee injury. It was reported that filming was not affected and he had returned to filming at Pinewood Studios as planned on 22 April. Nonetheless, some parts of the Mexico scene were done with stunt doubles, whose faces were digitally replaced with Craig's.

On 17 May 2015 filming took place on the Thames in London. Stunt scenes involving Craig and Seydoux on a speedboat as well as a low flying helicopter near Westminster Bridge were shot at night, with filming temporarily closing both Westminster and Lambeth Bridges. Scenes were also shot on the river near MI6's headquarters at Vauxhall Cross. The crew returned to the river less than a week later to film scenes solely set on Westminster Bridge. The London Fire Brigade was on set to simulate rain as well as monitor smoke used for filming. Craig, Seydoux, and Waltz, as well as Harris and Fiennes, were seen being filmed. Prior to this, scenes involving Fiennes were shot at a restaurant in Covent Garden. Blofeld's helicopter crash was done with two full sized helicopter shells, which were rigged with steelwork and an overhead track. Computer-generated rotor blades and scenery damage were added in post-production. The MI6 building, which in the film is vacated and scheduled for demolition following the terrorist attack from Skyfall, was replaced in the production plates for a digital reconstruction. When the building is detonated, it is a combination of both a miniature and a breakaway version of the digital building.

After wrapping up in England, production travelled to Morocco in June, with filming taking place in Oujda, Tangier and Erfoud, after preliminary work was completed by the production's second unit. The headquarters of Spectre in Morocco was located in Gara Medouar which is a 'crater' caused by erosion and of neither volcanic nor impact origin. An explosion filmed in Morocco holds a Guinness World Record for the largest film stunt explosion in cinematic history, involving 8,140 litres of kerosene and 24 charges each with a kilogramme of high explosives. The outside shots of a train in a desert featured the Oriental Desert Express. Principal photography concluded on 5 July 2015. A wrap-up party for Spectre was held in commemoration before entering post-production. Filming took 128 days.

Whilst filming in Mexico City, speculation in the media claimed that the script had been altered to accommodate the demands of Mexican authorities—reportedly influencing details of the scene and characters, casting choices, and modifying the script to portray the country in a "positive light"—to secure tax concessions and financial support worth up to $20 million for the film. This was denied by producer Michael G. Wilson, who stated that the scene had always been intended to be shot in Mexico as production had been attracted to the imagery of the Day of the Dead, and that the script had been developed from there. Production of Skyfall had previously faced similar problems while attempting to secure permits to shoot the film's pre-title sequence in India before moving to Istanbul.

Five companies did the visual effects—Industrial Light & Magic, Double Negative, Moving Picture Company, Cinesite and Peerless—under the supervision of Steve Begg. The computer-generated effects included set extensions, digital touches on the vehicles, and crumbling buildings. A sixth one, Framestore, handled the title sequence, the seventh in the series designed by Daniel Kleinman. It took four months to complete, and centred on an octopus motif reminiscent of the Spectre logo, along with images of love and relationships.

Music[]

Thomas Newman returned as Spectre's composer. Rather than composing the score once the film had moved into post-production, Newman worked during filming. The theatrical trailer released in July 2015 contained a rendition of John Barry's On Her Majesty's Secret Service theme. Mendes stated that the final film would have more than 100 minutes of music. The soundtrack album was released on 23 October 2015 in the UK and 6 November 2015 in the US on Decca Records.

The English band Radiohead were commissioned to write the title song, and submitted "Man of War", an unreleased song written in the 1990s. It was rejected as it had not been written for the film and so was ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Radiohead recorded another song for the film, "Spectre", but this was also rejected as too melancholy.

In September 2015, Eon announced that Sam Smith had recorded the title theme, "Writing's on the Wall". Smith reported writing the song in a single session with regular collaborator Jimmy Napes in under half an hour before recording a demo. Satisfied with the quality, the filmmakers used the demo in the final release. "Writing's on the Wall" was released as a download on 25 September 2015. It received mixed reviews from critics and fans, particularly in comparison to Adele's "Skyfall", leading to Shirley Bassey trending on Twitter on the day it was released. Despite the mixed reception, it became the first Bond theme to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart, the second to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the fifth to be nominated. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards.

Marketing[]

During the December 2014 press conference announcing the start of filming, Aston Martin and Eon unveiled the new DB10 as the official car for the film. The DB10 was designed in collaboration between Aston Martin and the filmmakers, with only 10 being produced especially for Spectre as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the company's association with the franchise. Only eight of those 10 were used for the film, however; the remaining two were used for promotional work. After modifying the Jaguar C-X75 for the film, Williams F1 carried the 007 logo on their cars at the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix, with the team playing host to the cast and crew ahead of the Mexican premiere of the film.

To promote the film, the film's marketers continued the trend established during Skyfall's production of releasing still images of clapperboards and video blogs on Eon's official social media accounts.

On 13 March 2015, several members of the cast and crew, including Craig, Whishaw, Wilson and Mendes, as well as previous James Bond actor, Sir Roger Moore, appeared in a sketch written by David Walliams and the Dawson Brothers for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day on BBC One. In the sketch, they film a behind-the-scenes documentary on the filming of Spectre. The first teaser trailer for Spectre was released worldwide in March 2015, followed by the theatrical trailer in July and the final trailer in October.

Release and reception[]

Theatrical[]

Spectre had its world premiere at the Royal Film Performance, an event in aid of the Film & TV Charity, in London on 26 October 2015 at the Royal Albert Hall, the same day as its general release in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Following the announcement of the start of filming, Paramount Pictures brought forward the release of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation to avoid competing with Spectre. In March 2015 IMAX corporation announced that Spectre would be screened in its cinemas, following Skyfall's success with the company. In the UK it received a wider release than Skyfall, with a minimum of 647 cinemas including 40 IMAX screens, compared to Skyfall's 587 locations and 21 IMAX screens.

Box office[]

Spectre grossed $880.7 million worldwide; $135.5 million of the takings were generated from the UK market and $200.1 million from North America. Worldwide, this made it the second-highest-grossing James Bond film after Skyfall, and the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2015. Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $98.4 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it sixteenth on their list of 2015's "Most Valuable Blockbusters". Sony had expected the net profit of the film to be around $38 million had it performed to the same level of its predecessor, but it earned 20% less than Skyfall. Sony paid 50% of the production costs for the film—which totalled some $250 million after accounting for government incentives—but received only 25% of certain profits, once costs were recouped. The studio also spent tens of millions of dollars in marketing and had to give MGM some of the profit from the studio's non-Bond films, including 22 Jump Street.

In the United Kingdom, the film grossed £4.1 million ($6.4 million) from its Monday preview screenings. It grossed £6.3 million ($9.2 million) on its opening day and then £5.7 million ($8.8 million) on Wednesday, setting UK records for both days. In the film's first seven days it grossed £41.7 million ($63.8 million), breaking the UK record for highest first-week opening, set by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban's £23.9 million ($36.9 million) in 2004. Its Friday–Saturday gross was £20.4 million ($31.2 million) compared to Skyfall's £20.1 million ($31 million). The film also broke the record for the best per-screen opening average with $110,000, a record previously held by The Dark Knight with $100,200. It has grossed a total of $136.3 million there. In the UK, it surpassed Avatar to become the country's highest-grossing IMAX release ever with $10.09 million.

Spectre opened in Germany with $22.5 million (including previews), which included a new record for the biggest Saturday of all time, Australia with $8.7 million (including previews) and South Korea opened to $8.2 million (including previews). Despite the 13 November Paris attacks, which led to numerous theatres being closed down, the film opened with $14.6 million (including $2 million in previews) in France. In Mexico, where part of the film was shot, it debuted with more than double that of Skyfall with $4.5 million. It also bested its predecessor's opening in various Nordic regions where MGM is distributing, such as in Finland ($2.7 million) and Norway ($2.9 million), and in other markets like Denmark ($4.2 million), the Netherlands ($3.4 million), and Sweden ($3.1 million). In India, it opened at No. 1 with $4.8 million which is 4% above the opening of Skyfall. It topped the German-speaking Switzerland box office for four weeks and in the Netherlands, it held the No. 1 spot for seven weeks straight where it topped Minions to become the top movie of the year. The top earning markets are Germany ($70.3 million) and France ($38.8 million). In Paris, it has the second-highest ticket sales of all time with 4.1 million tickets sold only behind Spider-Man 3 which sold over 6.3 million tickets in 2007.

In the United States and Canada the film opened on 6 November 2015, and in its opening weekend, was originally projected to gross $70–75 million from 3,927 screens, the widest release for a Bond film. However, after it grossed $5.3 million from its early Thursday night showings and $28 million on its opening day, weekend projections were increased to $75–80 million. The film ended up grossing $70.4 million in its opening weekend (about $20 million less than Skyfall's $90.6 million debut, including IMAX previews), but nevertheless finished first at the box office. IMAX generated $9.1 million for Spectre at 374 screens, premium large format made $8 million from 429 cinemas, reaping 11% of the film's opening, which means that Spectre earned $17.1 million (23%) of its opening weekend total in large-format venues. Cinemark XD generated $1.9 million in 112 XD locations.

In China, it opened on 12 November and earned $15 million on its opening day, which is the second biggest 2D single day gross for a Hollywood film behind the $18.5 million opening day of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and occupying 43% of all available screens which included $790,000 in advance night screenings. Through its opening weekend, it earned $48.1 million from 14,700 screens which is 198% ahead of Skyfall, a new record for a Hollywood 2D opening. IMAX contributed $4.6 million on 246 screens, also a new record for a three-day opening for a November release (breaking Interstellar's record). In its second weekend, it added $12.1 million falling precipitously by 75% which is the second worst second weekend drop for any major Hollywood release in China of 2015. It grossed a total of $84.7 million there after four weekends (foreign films in the Middle Kingdom play for 30 days only, unless granted special extensions). Despite a strong opening, it failed to attain the $100 million mark there as projected due to mixed response from critics and audiences as well as facing competition from local films.

Critical response[]

Spectre has an approval rating of 63% based on 368 professional reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.4/10. Its critical consensus reads, "Spectre nudges Daniel Craig's rebooted Bond closer to the glorious, action-driven spectacle of earlier entries, although it's admittedly reliant on established 007 formula." Metacritic (which uses a weighted average) assigned Spectre a score of 60 out of 100 based on 48 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Prior to its UK release, Spectre mostly received positive reviews. Mark Kermode, film critic for The Observer, gave the film four out of five stars, observing that the film did not live up to the standard set by Skyfall, but was able to tap into audience expectations. Writing in The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw gave the film a full five stars, calling it "inventive, intelligent and complex", and singling out Craig's performance as the film's highlight. In another five star review, The Daily Telegraph's Robbie Collin described Spectre as "a swaggering show of confidence'", lauding it as "a feat of pure cinematic necromancy." Positive yet critical assessments included Kim Newman of Sight and Sound, who wrote that "for all its wayward plotting (including an unhelpful tie-in with Bond's childhood that makes very little sense) and off-the-peg elements, Spectre works" as he felt "the audience's patience gets tested by two and a half hours of set-pieces strung on one of the series' thinner plots"; and IGN's Chris Tilly, who rated the film 7.2 out of 10, considering Spectre "solid if unspectacular", and concluding that "the film falls frustratingly short of greatness."

Critical appraisal was mixed in the United States. In a review for RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz gave Spectre 2.5 out of 4, describing it as inconsistent and unable to capitalise on its potential. Kenneth Turan, reviewing the film for Los Angeles Times, concluded that Spectre "comes off as exhausted and uninspired". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times criticised the film as having "nothing surprising" and sacrificing its originality for the sake of box office returns. Forbes' Scott Mendelson also heavily criticised the film, denouncing Spectre as "the worst 007 movie in 30 years". Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly viewed Spectre as "an overreaction to our current blockbuster moment", aspiring "to be a serialized sequel" and proving "itself as a Saga". While noting that "[n]othing that happens in Spectre holds up to even minor logical scrutiny", he had "come not to bury Spectre, but to weirdly praise it. Because the final act of the movie is so strange, so willfully obtuse, that it deserves extra attention." Christopher Orr, writing in The Atlantic, also criticised the film, saying that Spectre "backslides on virtually every [aspect]". Lawrence Toppman of The Charlotte Observer called Craig's performance "Bored, James Bored." Alyssa Rosenberg, writing for The Washington Post, stated that the film turned into "a disappointingly conventional Bond film."

In a positive review published in Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, describing Spectre as "party time for Bond fans, a fierce, funny, gorgeously produced valentine to the longest-running franchise in movies". Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle, raved that "One of the great satisfactions of Spectre is that, in addition to all the stirring action, and all the timely references to a secret organisation out to steal everyone's personal information, we get to believe in Bond as a person." Stephen Whitty from The New York Daily News, who awarded the film four of five stars, stated that "Craig is cruelly efficient. Dave Bautista makes a good, Oddjob-like assassin. And while Lea Seydoux doesn't leave a huge impression as this film's 'Bond girl', perhaps it's because we've already met—far too briefly—the hypnotic Monica Bellucci, as the first real 'Bond woman' since Diana Rigg." Chicago Sun-Times film reviewer Richard Roeper, who gave the film three stars out of four, considered the film "solidly in the middle of the all-time rankings, which means it's still a slick, beautifully photographed, action-packed, international thriller with a number of wonderfully, ludicrously entertaining set pieces, a sprinkling of dry wit, myriad gorgeous women and a classic psycho-villain who is clearly out of his mind but seems to like it that way." Michael Phillips, reviewing for the Chicago Tribune, stated, "For all its workmanlike devotion to out-of-control helicopters, Spectre works best when everyone's on the ground, doing his or her job, driving expensive fast cars heedlessly, detonating the occasional wisecrack, enjoying themselves and their beautiful clothes." Variety film critic Guy Lodge complained in his review that "What's missing is the unexpected emotional urgency of Skyfall, as the film sustains its predecessor's nostalgia kick with a less sentimental bent."

Home media[]

Spectre was released for Digital HD on 22 January 2016 and on DVD and Blu-ray on 9 and 22 February 2016 in the US and UK respectively. It debuted atop the home video charts in both countries, and finished 2016 with 1.5 million units in the UK, the second best-selling title of the year, behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and 2 million copies in the US, 12th in the year-end charts.

The film was later released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on 22 October 2019 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment along with the previous three films, and standalone on 25 February 2020 in the US and 23 March 2020 in the UK.

Company Credits[]

Production Companies[]

B24
Columbia Pictures
Danjaq (copyright holder)
Eon Productions (presents) (as Albert R. Broccoli's Eon Productions)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (copyright holder) (as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.)

Distributors[]

Columbia Pictures (2015) (USA) (theatrical)
ACME (2015) (Estonia) (theatrical)
ACME (2015) (Lithuania) (theatrical)
ACME (2015) (Latvia) (theatrical)
Andes Films (2015) (Chile) (theatrical)
B&H Film Distribution (2015) (Ukraine) (theatrical)
Cineforum (2015) (Romania) (theatrical)
Cocinsa (2015) (Nicaragua) (theatrical)
Columbia Pictures (2015) (Philippines) (theatrical)
Feelgood Entertainment (2015) (Greece) (theatrical)
Filmcompagniet (2015) (Denmark) (theatrical)
Footprint Entertainment (2015) (Pakistan) (theatrical)
Forum Film Bulgaria (2015) (Bulgaria) (theatrical)
Forum Film Poland (2015) (Poland) (theatrical)
Forum Film Slovakia (2015) (Slovakia) (theatrical)
Forum Film (2015) (Israel) (theatrical)
Forum Films (2015) (Czechia) (theatrical)
Forum Hungary (2015) (Hungary) (theatrical)
Gulf Film (2015) (United Arab Emirates) (theatrical)
Meloman (2015) (Kazakhstan) (theatrical) (through WDSSPR)
NOS Audiovisuais (2015) (Portugal) (theatrical)
SF Film Finland (2015) (Finland) (theatrical)
SPE Films India (2015) (India) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Filmverleih (2015) (Austria) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing Argentina (2015) (Argentina) (theatrical) (through United International Pictures)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Brazil) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (France) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Germany) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Indonesia) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Italy) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (through Universal Pictures International)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Singapore) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (Spain) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (UK) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (USA) (theatrical)
Ster-Kinekor Pictures (2015) (South Africa) (theatrical)
Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2015) (Sweden) (theatrical)
United International Pictures (UIP) (2015) (Argentina) (theatrical) (through)
Universal Pictures International (UPI) (2015) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (through)
Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing (WDSSPR) (2015) (Russia) (theatrical)
Westec Media Limited (2015) (Cambodia) (theatrical)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Argentina) (Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Argentina) (DVD)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2020) (Argentina) (all media) (Ultra HD Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Australia) (Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Australia) (DVD)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Canada) (Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Canada) (DVD)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2020) (Canada) (all media) (Ultra HD Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Germany) (Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Germany) (DVD)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2020) (Germany) (all media) (Ultra HD Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (UK) (Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (UK) (DVD)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2020) (UK) (all media) (Ultra HD Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (USA) (Blu-ray)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (USA) (DVD)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2019) (USA) (all media) (Ultra HD Blu-ray) (Daniel Craig Collection)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2020) (USA) (all media) (Ultra HD Blu-ray)
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Netherlands) (Blu-ray)
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Netherlands) (DVD)
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Russia) (Blu-ray)
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2016) (Russia) (DVD)
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2020) (Australia) (all media) (Ultra HD Blu-ray)
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (2020) (USA) (Blu-ray) (DVD) (re-print for MGM)
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (2022) (USA) (Blu-ray) (Daniel Craig 5-Film Collection)
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (2022) (USA) (all media) (Ultra HD Blu-ray) (Daniel Craig 5-Film Collection)

Special Effects[]

Rushes (on screen graphics design and animation)
Animated Extras (makeup masks)
Prop Shop (Lidar)
IO Entertainment (previsualization)
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) (visual effects and animation)
Double Negative (DNEG) (visual effects)
Moving Picture Company (MPC) (visual effects)
Cinesite (visual effects)
Peerless Camera Company (visual effects)
BlueBolt (visual effects)
Centroid Motion Capture (motion capture)
NVIZ (visual effects) (as Nvizible)
Snow Business International

Technical Specs[]

Runtime[]

148 mins

Color[]

Color

Sound Mix[]

Dolby Digital
12-Track Digital Sound (IMAX 12 track)
Datasat
Dolby Surround 7.1

Aspect Ratio[]

2.39:1
1.78:1 (IMAX and Small Widescreen versions)
1.33:1 (4:3 fullscreen versions)

Trivia[]

For the first time in their shared history, Aston Martin specially commissioned the DB10 specifically just for the film. It was designed and built exclusively for the James Bond Franchise.
Director Sam Mendes would later revisit the concept of using a single long tracking shot, as seen in Spectre's opening sequence, in his Oscar-nominated war film, 1917, only extended for an entire movie.
Kingsley Amis receives screen credit due to a plot point and some dialogue having been adapted from his Bond novel, Colonel Sun. Although Die Another Day featured a character whose name referenced that of Amis' titular villain, this was the first film to directly adapt material from the novel; indeed, it is the first Bond film to acknowledge adapting any literary Bond story not written by Ian Fleming.
The SPECTRE conference sequence references a similar set-piece event in the original Thunderball novel and its 1965 film adaptation, with a key difference being that Bond is not present in the earlier version (and, indeed, does not encounter Blofeld at all in Thunderball).
The name Oberhauser comes from the short story Octopussy.
The film represents the first appearance of Blofeld's cat since the non-Eon Never Say Never Again or the official For Your Eyes Only
First James Bond movie not to feature the iconic trumpet playing of Derek Watkins. Since Dr. No (1962), Mr. Watkins had featured on the soundtrack of every Bond movie until his death shortly after the release of Skyfall (2012).
Despite Skyfall (2012) being shot entirely on digital, and rumors that James Bond movies would be shot digitally from then on, this and No Time to Die (2021) were shot on 35mm film.
The massive explosion seen towards the end of this movie has been awarded a Guinness World Record as the largest movie stunt explosion of all time. The award was presented to the movie's special effects and miniature effects supervisor, Chris Corbould. The explosion lasts for over 7.5 seconds, took 33 kilograms (73 pounds) of powder explosives, and 8,418 liters (2,224 gallons) of kerosene to explode, which is an equivalent of 68 metric tons (75 tons) of TNT. The explosion scene was shot in Erfoud, Morocco, and takes place after James Bond and Dr. Madeleine Swann escape from the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. lair headquarters, situated in the base of a meteorite crater. The movie's production notes state: "Here, the special effects team oversaw what might well be the largest movie explosion ever. The team brought in over 2100 gallons of kerosene to fuel the massive blast." Chris Corbould has said: "It is most definitely the biggest explosion of my career. It was complicated to plan and to pull off, but it was more than worth it." Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday said: "The James Bond movies are synonymous with pushing cinematic boundaries. The scene featuring the world's largest film explosion is spectacular, and will live long in the memory as one of the outstanding moments on the Bond franchise."
With a running time of 163 minutes, or two hours and 43 minutes, No Time to Die (2020) has the longest ever running time for a Bond movie. At two hours and 24 minutes, Casino Royale (2006) was once the longest James Bond movie, beating the previous record holder On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) by four minutes, until the release of Spectre (2015), which beat it by another four minutes. Spectre (2015) was recently the longest James Bond movie record holder, with a running time of two hours and 28 minutes. Daniel Craig has now played Bond in four longest Bond movies of all time: No Time to Die (2020, Spectre (2015), Skyfall (2012), and Casino Royale (2006). The former long-time record holder, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), is now in fifth place, with Skyfall (2012) in fourth. Conversely, Daniel Craig has also starred in the shortest theatrical Bond film to date, Quantum of Solace (2008), which has a running time of only one hour and 46 minutes.
First James Bond movie to show the home of Miss Eve Moneypenny.
Third James Bond movie featuring Jesper Christensen, who appeared in Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). Skyfall (2012) is the only Daniel Craig Bond movie in which Christensen has not appeared.
First James Bond movie to feature the character with the code name "C" (as with "M", "Q", and "R"). "C" is Max Denbigh, head of MI5, portrayed by Andrew Scott. Denbigh is the fourth main character in the franchise in the British Secret Service to have a single code letter name, and he's the fifth if one counts the Russian Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) who was code-named Agent XXX.
First Daniel Craig James Bond movie where Daniel Craig appears in the traditional opening gun barrel walk and gun barrel sequence at the start of the movie. In Casino Royale (2006), Craig appeared in an opening gun barrel walk sequence, which was different to the traditional style of gun barrel openings. In Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall (2012), Craig appeared in the traditional gun barrel sequence, but this was situated at the end of each of these movies, with the latter having an added 50th Anniversary motif.
Radiohead had recorded a song called "Spectre", which was going to be the film's main theme. However, the song was rejected for being "too dark". The producers opted for Sam Smith's "Writing's On the Wall" in the end. Radiohead later released their song as a free download on Soundcloud on December 25, 2015.
Third James Bond movie in the official franchise where the opening credits sequence shows clips from previous movies. The first two were Goldfinger (1964) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Like Goldfinger (1964), this movie only showed the earlier movies of the actor playing James Bond at the time. In On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), the opening titles showed all of the previous movies in the franchise to that point in time.
The opening title sequence was set up as an homage to Live and Let Die (1973), as this was the first James Bond movie seen by Daniel Craig and director Sam Mendes.
This is the first James Bond movie since Die Another Day (2002) in which James doesn't end up alone at the end of the movie.
At 148 minutes, this is director Sam Mendes' longest film to date. His shortest movie, Away We Go (2009), is just 50 minutes shorter.
The first James Bond movie with a man in the major "M" role since Licence to Kill (1989), although Ralph Fiennes officially became "M" at the end of Skyfall (2012).
The Alex Rider book series, almost like a teenage James Bond, has an organization, S.C.O.R.PI.A., which is akin to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Their leader, Zeljan Kurst, is bald like Blofeld in some of the Bond movies. Their plans are always thwarted by Alex Rider, a teen Bond. S.C.O.R.P.I.A. is almost an acronym for what it does, like S.P.E.C.T.R.E., but S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is made up of disillusioned former Secret Agents, who went into business for themselves. A post Ian Fleming James Bond novel titled "Scorpius" (1988) was written by John Gardner.
In the opening credits sequence, there is an image of many eyes of different sizes; it is reminiscent of the eyes in the description of Gregory Peck's dream to Ingrid Bergman and Michael Chekhov in Sir Alfred Hitchcock's "Spellbound".

Connections[]

Follows[]

Dr. No (1962)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
Thunderball (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
A View to a Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence to Kill (1989)
GoldenEye (1995)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
The World is Not Enough (1999)
Die Another Day (2002)
Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Skyfall (2012)

Followed by[]

No Time to Die (2021)

Edited into[]

Omega 'Spectre' Television Commercial (2015) (Video) - The Omega TV advert is edited from the trailer/feature film.
The Making of James Bond 007's Watch in Spectre (2015) (Video) - The Omega TV advert is edited from the trailer/feature film.

References[]

Casablanca (1942) - Costume designer Jany Temime says James Bond's white tuxedo in Morocco was inspired by Humphrey Bogart wearing one in this movie
Dr. No (1962) - Nehru collarless jacket of villain; SPECTRE criminal organization
From Russia with Love (1963) - Arch villain introduced in silhouette; Tough physical fight on train; Appearance of a game of chess and chess board; James Bond has a romantic train journey; SPECTRE criminal organization and arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Goldfinger (1964) - Ejector seat in Aston Martin DB10; James Bond wears a white tuxedo; Mute or near mute henchman; James Bond tormented by a high-tech device; Gadgets in the Aston Martin DB10 are labeled with the cheap punched adhesive labeling system Dymo Tape; Look and appearance henchman of Mr. Hinx resembles henchman Oddjob; James Bond taken to villain in Rolls Royce, also hands over gun to butler, and wears a suit similar to one in the equivalent scene in Goldfinger; Opening credits shows clips from previous Bond films; Arch villain owns a Rolls Royce
Thunderball (1965) - SPECTRE criminal organization and arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld; Octopus insignia on SPECTRE ring of evil; Funeral of a SPECTRE agent and Bond seeking out the widow afterwards; Arch villain introduced in silhouette; Ejector seat in Aston Martin car
You Only Live Twice (1967) - Meteorite crater villain's lair evokes the hollowed-out volcano lair; Arch villain gets a scar down the right side of his face; Nehru collarless jacket of main villain
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - Mountain-top alpine snow set clinic; Downhill mountain alpine snow sequence; James Bond seen in the snow with a gun; Nehru collarless jacket of main villain; Music composed in Austria snow sequences; Glass shattered by bullet forming a crack & bullethole; A dilapidated barn situated in the snow; SPECTRE criminal organization and arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld; Opening credits shows clips from previous Bond films; Cable car in snowbound setting; Bond driving off with the girl, who is the daughter of a criminal
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - SPECTRE criminal organization and arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld; Mr Hinx's name evokes Mr Witt & Mr Kidd; Nehru collarless jacket of main villain; James Bond wears a white tuxedo; Ernst Stavro Blofeld has hair rather than being bald; James Bond talks to a mouse like Bond did to a rat
Live and Let Die (1973) - Day of the Dead street parade whilst James Bond's mask in the festival resembles Baron Samedi; Tough physical fight on train; Black turtleneck outfit of James Bond; Wingless plane; Exploding watch saves Bond like his magnetised watch did; James Bond has a romantic interlude on a train
The Godfather: Part II (1974) - Bond walks across rooftops to track a man he intends to kill, while a festival takes place on the ground level. Vito Corleone does the same when tracking Don Fanucci.
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Jaws (1975) - Mr. Hinx is killed by a rope wrapped around his neck and tied to a barrel, that is then tossed off a train. The shark was also subdued by barrels on the sea in such a way.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - James Bond has liaison with partner of deceased villain; Mute or near mute henchman who is huge, intimidating and very strong, using metal protheses to kill and survives several fights with Bond; Tough physical fight on train; Nehru collarless jacket of villain; James Bond has a romantic interlude on a train
Moonraker (1979) - Mute or near mute henchman who is huge, intimidating and very strong, using metal protheses to kill and survives several fights with Bond; Nehru collarless jacket of main villain; Control room in SPECTRE lair HQ is shaped like Drax's; Love scene in Italian villa with baroque architecture; Cable car sequence
For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Bond offering Mr. White his gun as a sign of trust like when Milos Columbo offers Bond his gun for the same; Death of leading Bond Girl's parent(s); Fight in helicopter with Bond hanging onto its exterior; Film's villain owns a Rolls Royce Silver Wraith; Arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld appears during opening sequence
Octopussy (1983) - Octopus insignia & iconography e.g. SPECTRE ring of evil; Oberhauser name taken from Octopussy short story; Nehru collarless jacket of villain; James Bond wears a white tuxedo; Octopus tentacles behind silhouetted villain in opening title sequence resemble Octopussy's arms in many posters for the movie; Villain owns a Rolls Royce
Never Say Never Again (1983) - SPECTRE criminal organization and arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld; Intended name of unfilmed sequel to this movie was SPECTRE
A View to a Kill (1985) - Finale climax denouement on a major bridge; James Bond wears a white tuxedo; James Bond drives car down building steps; Arch-villain's butler resembles Scarpine
The Living Daylights (1987) - Austria and Morocco locations; Main villain is apprehended pending arrest rather than killed
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) - James Bond bluffs his way into Spectre's castle by claiming to be Mickey Mouse. In order to rescue Sean Connery's character in The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones attempts to bluff his way into a castle - he is refused entry as the guard sarcastically declares "If you are Scottish Lord then I am Mickey Mouse!"
Licence to Kill (1989) - James Bond acting as a rogue agent; Mexico location; James Bond is suspended from duty; James Bond and Estrella in 'Spectre' (2015) ride in the very same elevator as James Bond and Pam Bouvier did in the same hotel (the Gran Hotel de la Ciudad de Mexico) in 'Licence to Kill'.
GoldenEye (1995) - Judi Dench's cameo was cast so the actress could celebrate her 20th Anniversary as M
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - Nehru collarless jacket of villain; James Bond has a romantic liaison with the wife of a villain
The World is Not Enough (1999) - Boat chase down the Thames River
Road to Perdition (2002) - Both Road to Perdition (2002) and Spectre (2015) contain a POV shot of a Rolls Royce driving to its destination. Sam Mendes was the director of both of these films.
Die Another Day (2002)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) - After the opening scene, M says to Bond he "decided to potter off to Mexico". This peculiar phrasing may be a veiled reference to Ralph Fiennes (M) playing lead antagonist Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.
Casino Royale (2006) - Mr White character returns; Le Chiffre and Vesper Lynd characters referenced in film and seen during opening titles; Collapsing buildings in London (MI6) & Mexico City like one in Venice
Quantum of Solace (2008) - Mention of the QUANTUM organisation; Mr White character returns; Dominic Greene character referenced in film; The word "solace" mentioned in dialogue; Villain's lair situated in desert evoking film's Eco Hotel; Italy and Austria locations; James Bond references priesthood like mentioning to M about getting a priest
Skyfall (2012) - Appearance of the Royal Doulton British Bulldog figurine previously first seen in Skyfall; Patrice & Raoul Silva characters are referenced with the latter appearing in the openng titles; Judi Dench cameo after dying in Skyfall; Death of previous M mentioned by characters; Extensive use of London, England as a filming location e.g. for the finale; Information technology scheme of the movie's villain; Forensics have recovered items from Skyfall; Reference to James Bond being shot accidentally

Referenced in[]

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) - The snow and mountain sequence has a similar look and feel.
No Time to Die (2021)

Features[]

Casino Royale (2006) - Title sequence shows footage from the previous films.
Quantum of Solace (2008) - Title sequence shows footage from the previous films.
Skyfall (2012) - Title sequence shows footage from the previous films.