Anticipation surrounding Daniel Craig’s last rodeo as Bond … James Bond, the still-untitled Bond 25, spiked on Wednesday when the spy film franchise’s official Twitter account announced the “#BOND25 Live Reveal,” set for Thursday morning. However, the eminently reasonable, widely shared expectation that said reveal would include, you know, the film’s title wasn’t met—rather, the reveal confirmed Bond 25’s cast, crew and locations, in addition to divulging a few stray plot details and promising further updates to come.
Bond 25 producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and director Cary Fukunaga delivered the film’s reveal live from GoldenEye, the Jamaican villa where author Ian Fleming created pop culture’s foremost super-spy. The trio confirmed the film’s writing team of Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Scott Z. Burns and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the last of whom Craig reportedly recruited personally to polish the film’s script, and its shooting locations, including: Jamaica, where the film begins; Norway, where Fukunaga says some filming has already been completed; London, including Pinewood Studios and locations around the city; and Italy, specifically the “little hilltop town” of Matera.
“Bond is not on active service when we start the film, so he is actually enjoying himself in Jamaica,” said Broccoli. “We consider Jamaica Bond’s spiritual home, so he starts his journey here.” The producer went on to tease that Bond has “quite a ride in store” before adding, “no title, unfortunately.” Wilson chimed in, “I can’t remember the last time we had a title when we announced the beginning of a film. It’s a tradition now.”
From there, Fukunaga confirmed the film’s cast: Returning actors include, of course, Craig as Bond, backed up by Ralph Fiennes as M, Rory Kinnear as Bond’s MI6 ally Tanner, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann and Jeffrey Wright as CIA operative Felix Leiter (last seen in 2008’s Quantum of Solace). Meanwhile, an impressive crop of newcomers to the franchise includes Billy Magnussen (Game Night), Ana De Armas (Blade Runner 2049), David Dencik (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Dali Benssalah (A Faithful Man) and Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), with recent Oscar winner Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) as the film’s villain.
Malek, whose New York production duties precluded him from joining the Jamaican party, chimed in by pulling what is quickly becoming his signature move: a vaguely creepy video address, delivered directly to the camera.
A word about #BOND25 from Rami Malek pic.twitter.com/CLJ5mpO9mu
— James Bond (@007) April 25, 2019
And speaking of cameras, we also learned today that Bond 25 will be shot (at least in part) in IMAX.
We’re excited to partner with @MGM_Studios and #Bond25@IMAX Film Cameras. pic.twitter.com/xoJiC7Xet8
— IMAX (@IMAX) April 25, 2019
The Bond 25 live reveal concluded with a sneak peek at one of the film’s Jamaican sets: presumably, Bond’s house to which Broccoli alluded earlier in the video. You can catch that around the 19:25 mark in the full Bond 25 reveal below and stay tuned for more on the film, now in production and set to open on April 8, 2020.