Daniel Craig

During Game 3 of the NBA Finals last night, Sony Pictures covertly dropped an extended new TV spot for the upcoming 24th James Bond film, Spectre. Normally this type of footage would be accompanied by lots of announcements and teases on social media, but Sony played the spy card and went covert. There was no fanfare, no big announcements, but there was a lot of exciting new footage from the movie.

Many people have assumed, mostly because of their close personal and professional relationship, that director J.J. Abrams had invited actor Simon Pegg to make an appearance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Pegg recently denied those rumors, but in doing so, accidentally confirmed a different actor who does make a surprise appearance in the movie: Daniel Craig.

While we very, very patiently await the full trailer for Spectre, the production has been keeping us occupied with photos and video blogs from the set, for which we should all be very, very grateful. The latest video update focuses on the classy, shiny (and very expensive) cars from the film, as well as the exciting chase sequences — because what is a Bond film without a good ol’ fashioned chase?

No James Bond adventure is complete without a little globe-trotting. When last we checked in with Spectre, the newest (and 24th, if you’re keeping score at home) Bond film, Daniel Craig was out turtlenecking it up in Austria with Léa Seydoux and Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista. The new batch of official set photos from 007.com find Craig, director Sam Mendes, and the rest of the Bond team have decamped for Mexico, where 007 is leaping across rooftops (in a really crisp suit) amidst a big holiday parade. Here’s the official description to go along with the images:

It’s finally here: the first teaser trailer for Spectre, the next installment in the James Bond franchise. After months of set photos and teases, we have our first legitimate look at the new 007 film, which promises to reveal some dark secrets Daniel Craig’s Bond has been hiding for years and years, as well as the shadowy figure that has something to do with it.

Unlike the super secrecy of Star Wars: Episode 7 or Marvel, Spectre has been surprisingly forthcoming, especially for a movie that's all about secrets. So far, in just a relatively short amount of filming time, we've had two video blogs updating with news the set and today we already have a Spectre poster.

As Spectre continues filming, we are treated today to another dispatch from the Bond 24 set. The last video blog focused on the snowy shoot on the top of the Austrian mountains and this new installment features new behind the scenes footage of Daniel Craig as James Bond as well as Ralph Fiennes (M), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny), and Ben Whishaw (Q).

‘Spectre’, the upcoming 24th James Bond movie, is currently filming in Austria where it is probably as cold and snowy as wherever you are right now (damn you, Polar Vortex!). The cast and crew took some time out to update 007 fans on the progress of the upcoming film with a video blog on what they're currently shooting, which they promise manages to top even ‘Skyfall’.

With ‘Casino Royale’, ‘Quantum of Solace’ and ‘Skyfall’, the Daniel Craig era of the James Bond movies has been the most successful films of the entire franchise on both a critical and commercial level. That's pretty good for an actor a lot of Bond fans hated when he was originally cast (The Daily Mirror in London ran the headline “The Name's Bland. James Bland.”). With the next installment in Craig's 007 series—‘Spectre’—set for release in November, we thought we'd take a look back at the previous three films in the latest installment of You Think You Know Movies!

SPECTRE is an awesomely over-the-top acronym for SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion, which may very well be the most literal name for a villainous organization in the history of fiction. They’re mentioned in the very first Bond film, ‘Dr. No,’ when the title villain name-drops them to a captive Bond, saying that they’re behind his scheme to sabotage an American rocket launch. Naturally, Bond prevails in the end, but SPECTRE is just getting started.