First it was October 23. Then it was November 6. But now Spectre, the 24th official James Bond adventure, has finally settled on a UK release date. It'll receive its world premiere in London on October 26, and open the same night in the rest of the country.
"For the first time ever, the film will open on the same night at cinemas across the UK and Ireland," said distributor Sony Pictures in a press release. Unusually that means Spectre will be out on a Monday, which will make the figures for its opening "weekend" interesting. But with Skyfall raking in well north of a billion dollars worldwide, that should prove an insignificant issue.
Elsewhere in Spectre news, director Sam Mendes has confirmed/insisted to - of all places - the BBC's Test Match Special that this Bond will certainly be his last. He said that after Skyfall, of course, but was persuaded to return after the producers twisted his arm.
This time, however, he seems to determined to move on. "I said no to [this] one and then ended up doing it," he told the cricketers, "but... I don't think I could go down that road again. This was an enormous undertaking, and a bigger movie than Skyfall; it's shot in more places. You do have to put everything else on hold. It's more a lifestyle choice than a job." But it's also, he clarifies, "a fantastic life-changing thing".
Finally, Mendes has teased that Spectre's theme song is finished, but declined to reveal who's recorded it. We should get clarification of that sooner rather than later. "You won't have to wait long..." C'mon, it's obviously Motörhead.
With Mendes back directing a script that has been written by John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, Spectre sees Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris, as M, Q and Moneypenny respectively, with new recruits Christoph Waltz as Oberhauser, Dave Bautista as Mr. Hinx, Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra, Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann, Stephanie Sigman as Estrella and Andrew Scott as Denbigh. Oh, and Daniel Craig as James Bond, obvs. As we said, it’ll hit British and Irish screens on October 26 before heading to the States and elsewhere a whole eleven days later.