5 New Pics of Spectre Cast on Location

Despite the off-screen drama (involving digital espionage more heinous than even Ernst Blofeld!), the next James Bond film, Spectre, is back on track with production and is welcoming a chilly New Year.

In the below photos released by the EON Productions, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and MGM, it appears to be a pleasant time for all parties, including 007 star Daniel Craig, new Bond girl Léa Seydoux, and former Drax the Destroyer Dave Bautista. However, given that the film is set to shoot in the Austrian Alps tourist attraction of Sölden well into February, we sense that the latter may not be playing such a chummy onscreen acquaintance. Indeed, the tourist site for Sölden makes it clear that the film is going to shoot on a popular glacier ski slope, as well as make use of the cable cars. Is it us, or does this film have a touch of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service going on?

Spectre is the follow-up to the most successful James Bond film in history, Skyfall (which was the first to clear $1 billion worldwide). It continues the story of that film and, apparently, all of the Daniel Craig Bond films by returning the villainous Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) to the series as a linchpin for the four pictures. Also, more impressively, Spectre reunites much of the Skyfall creative team including director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) and screenwriter John Logan (Penny Dreadful). The script has also been worked on by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have had a hand in every Bond film since The World is Not Enough.

Spectre finds 007 (Craig) at odds with MI6’s new M (Ralph Fiennes) about the best way to handle the ever-changing world of espionage and terrorism. Whereas M continues to be under siege by political realities in London, Bond is forced to finish “one last mission” from the previous M and his late mentor, played by Judi Dench. Along the way, he will discover a political conspiracy that taps back into one of Ian Fleming’s most feared creations—the terrorist organization known as SPECTRE.

Spectre also stars Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Naomi Harris, Ben Whishaw, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, and Rory Kinnear.