A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, where he meets Lucia Sciarra, the beautiful and forbidden widow of an infamous criminal. Bond infiltrates a secret meeting and uncovers the existence of the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE.

Meanwhile back in London, Max Denbigh, the new head of the Centre for National Security, questions Bond’s actions and challenges the relevance of MI6, led by M. Bond covertly enlists Moneypenny and Q to help him seek out Madeleine Swann, the daughter of his old nemesis Mr White, who may hold the clue to untangling the web of SPECTRE. As the daughter of an assassin, she understands Bond in a way most others cannot.

As Bond ventures towards the heart of SPECTRE, he learns of a chilling connection between himself and the enemy he seeks, played by Christoph Waltz.

It all starts from character with me, and I wanted to explore all sorts of different aspects of the characters that I’d left behind in SKYFALL. We had populated MI6 with a whole new generation of people — a new M, a new Moneypenny and a new Q. I wanted to let those relationships develop and grow.

Sam Mendes’ film and theatre career spans 25 years. At just 24 years old he became the first Artistic Director of the Minerva Theatre in Chichester. At 27 he founded the Donmar Warehouse in London, which he ran for ten years, and where he directed many productions including ASSASSINS, CABARET, TRANSLATIONS, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, COMPANY, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, HABEAS CORPUS, THE BLUE ROOM, TO THE GREEN FIELDS BEYOND, UNCLE VANYA and TWELFTH NIGHT. It has become one of the world’s leading playhouses.

He has many other theatre credits. For the Royal Shakespeare Company: TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, RICHARD III, THE TEMPEST and THE ALCHEMIST. For the National Theatre: THE SEA, THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE, OTHELLO and KING LEAR. In the West End: THE CHERRY ORCHARD, LONDON ASSURANCE, KEAN, OLIVER! and CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, which is currently running in London at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. On Broadway: CABARET, THE BLUE ROOM, GYPSY and THE VERTICAL HOUR.
In 2009 he founded the Bridge Project, a trans-atlantic classical theatre company, for which he directed THE WINTER’S TALE, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, THE TEMPEST, AS YOU LIKE IT, and RICHARD III. His many theatre awards include: four Olivier Awards, two Tony Awards, four Evening Standard Awards, several Critics’ Choice Awards, and the Hamburg Shakespeare Prize.

In 1998 he directed his first film, AMERICAN BEAUTY, winning the American Academy Award® for Best Director and Best Picture, as well as the Golden Globe and Directors’ Guild Awards. He has since directed the American Academy Award®-winning ROAD TO PERDITION, JARHEAD, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, AWAY WE GO, and the BAFTA and US Academy Award®-winning SKYFALL, the most successful film of all time in the UK and one of the most successful of all time world-wide.

In 2003 he founded Neal Street Productions with Pippa Harris and Caro Newling. Neal Street has produced the BAFTA award-winning television series CALL THE MIDWIFE and THE HOLLOW CROWN; several movies including THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE, STUART: A LIFE BACKWARDS and STARTER FOR 10; and in the theatre the long-running SHREK THE MUSICAL.

He was awarded a CBE in 2000 and a Directors’ Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.