A few weeks ago rumours emerged that the next James Bond movie would be called Skyfall, as Sony Picture has purchased a bunch of 007-related website addresses with that name featured in them. Today a huge press conference was held for the film, where it was announced the movie would indeed be called Skyfall.

However, if you were hoping for lots of plot details to be announced at the same time, you’ll be disappointed, as those are still pretty much being kept under wraps. A short syopsis was released though, which just tells us, “Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.” Sounds like Judi Dench will be getting a bigger role this time around then!

The cast has also been confirmed, with Daniel Craig and Judi Dench joined by Bérénice Marlohe, Naomie Harris, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Wishaw and Albert Finney. While it’s been speculated that Harris would play Miss Moneypenny (who’s been missing from Craig’s 007 adventures), she’ll actually be a field agent called Eve. Marlohe meanwhile will be a glamorous, enigmatic character called Severin.

No character names were revealed for Bardem, Fiennes, Whishaw and Finney, with director Sam Mendes suggesting that the reason for that with at least some of their characters is that we’d recognise the names and it would give things away. We know Bardem will be the main villain, and there’s speculation Fiennes will be a Blofeld-type character, although whether he’ll actually be the SPECTRE baddie isn’t known.

Mendes also says he wants the film to have a similar tone to Casino Royale, partly because he wasn’t a fan of Quantum Of Solace. Shooting begins today in Whitehall, with filming also taking place at Pinewood Studios as well as Shanghai, Istanbul and Scotland.

It’s less than a year now until it hits cinemas, with the UK release due on 26th October, 2012

General movie news courtesy of Movie Muser