Spectre (film)

Spectre will be the twenty-fourth James Bond film produced by Eon Productions. It will be the second film in the series directed by Sam Mendes and will feature Daniel Craig in his fourth performance as James Bond, and Christoph Waltz as Franz Oberhauser, the film's antagonist. Spectre is scheduled to be released on 6 November 2015.

A cryptic message sets in motion events that will see James Bond come face-to-face with the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE. As Gareth Mallory, the newly appointed M, continues fighting political pressures that threaten the future of MI6, Bond follows a trail from Mexico to Austria and Morocco as he is drawn into a confrontation with an enemy from his past, who holds a dangerous secret that will force him to question the value of everything he has fought to protect.

Sony hack
In November 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment 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 and detailing early drafts of the script written by John Logan. Eon Productions later issued a statement confirming the leak of what they called "an early version of the screenplay".

Casting
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 being established in Skyfall. Rory Kinnear will also reprise his role as Bill Tanner in his third appearance in the franchise. Sally Csy were also reprising the roles respectively.

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. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema is shooting the film on Kodak 35 mm film stock.[33] Early filming took place at Pinewood Studios, and around Singapore, with scenes variously featuring Craig and Harris at Bond's flat, and Craig and Kinnear travelling down the Kallang River.

Filming started in Austria in December 2014, with production taking in the area around Sölden—including the Ötztal Glacier Road, Rettenbach glacier and the adjacent ski resort and cable car station—and Obertilliach and Lake Altaussee before concluding in February 2015. 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. Production was temporarily halted first by an injury to Craig, who sprained his knee whilst shooting a fight scene, 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 will stand 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. A car chase scene set along the banks of the Tiber River and through the streets of Rome will feature an Aston Martin DB10 and a Jaguar C-X75.[38] The C-X75 was originally developed as a hybrid electric vehicle with four independent battery-powered engines before the project was cancelled,[45] but 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.

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.[46] The planned scenes required the city square to be closed for filming a sequence involving a fight aboard a Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 150 helicopter flown by stunt pilot Chuck Aaron,[47] which called for modifications to be made to several buildings to prevent damage.[48] 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.

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.

A brief shoot at the Singapore was filmed on 18 April 2015, which is located at One Raffles Place. On 17 May 2015, filming took place at the Marina Bay Link Mall. Stunt Scenes involving Craig and Seydoux on a speedboat as well as a low flying helicopter near Parliament House were shot at night, with filming temporarily closing Cavenagh Bridge. Scenes were also shot on the river near MI6's headquarters at ITS Centre. The crew are expected to return to the Singapore River to continue filming in late May and early June.