Spectre: Bond 24 named as Christoph Waltz & Lea Seydoux join cast

Bond 24 will be called Spectre.

Daniel Craig returns as Bond opposite Christoph Waltz as the villain Oberhauser and Lea Seydoux as Bond Girl Madeleine Swann.

Dave Bautista will play villainous henchman Mr Hinx and Sherlock's Andrew Scott is on board as new MIG team member Denbigh.

Monica Bellucci will play. Lucia Sciarra

A brief synopsis was also offered up:

"A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive. Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE."

Director Sam Mendes, returning after 2012's hugely successful Skyfall, was on hand at a press conference at Pinewood Studios, where the principal cast was announced in full ahead of the start of full production on Monday.

Skyfall debutant Ralph Fiennes will return as M alongside Naomie Harris' Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw's spy-master Q and Rory Kinnear as Tanner – in his third film alongside Craig's 007.

Spectre's script has been written by Skyfall scribe John Logan, and spruced up by Bond regulars Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth – all of whom worked on polishing Logan's Skyfall script as well.

Interstellar and Her cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema is on board as director of photography, replacing the Oscar-nominated Roger Deakins.

Spectre will be released in cinemas on 6 November 2015.