One of the most lasting images frrom Sam Mendes' Skyfall was of s tiny, porcelain, Union Jack-covered bulldog. The relic - which originates from World War II - was one of the few things that survived the explosion in M's office, and was used rather perfectly symbolically throughout the film. It was a wonderful touch to include in the 23rd James Bond adventure, and it looks like it will be back for number 24.
To mark the start of production on Spectre, the official James Bond Twitter page has posted a special announcement message and photo - and featured along with the movie's first slate you can also see that M's bulldog will be returning:
During World War II, the Bulldog became a very popular symbol in England, meant to represent the country's determination and willingness to fight against attacking forces. In Skyfall, the figure's survival of the explosion rigged by Javier Bardem's Silva was symbolic in the exact same way, but I love the idea that it's a symbol for the production of Spectre as well. After all, productions on major blockbusters take a lot of work from a lot of different people, and it's not easy work. Here, the bulldog makes for a good representation of the cast and crew's determination to make the best film they possibly can.
Directed by Sam Mendes and based on a script by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan, Spectre begins as James Bond (Daniel Craig) receives a mysterious message that leads him to begin investigating the sinister titular organization. The impressive cast features the return of Skyfall stars Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomi Harris as Eve Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as Q, but also plenty of new faces, including Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Andrew Scott, and Dave Bautista. Like just about every 007 film, the production will be traveling around the world and in addition to filming in England they will also be going to Rome, Austria and Morocco.
Spectre is filming now and will likely continue to do so over the next few months. From there it will be a quick transition into post-production mode, as the film is scheduled to be released by Sony on November 6, 2015. Hopefully this will not the be the last time that the official James Bond Twitter accounts delivers us a behind the scenes look at the movie, and if they do continue to share, you can be sure that we will continue to analyze it all.
