Even if you're not a 007 die-hard, there's a lot to look forward to in the forthcoming Spectre, which you know is a modern-day James Bond movie because nobody knows what the title means. The twenty-fourth entry in the Bond canon is even more noteworthy for potentially being — if the incessant whispers about Damien Lewis, Idris Elba, and every other British actor under fifty are to be believed — Daniel Craig's last ride in the role he reinvigorated with physical and psychological ferocity back in 2006's Casino Royale.

Coming off of 2012's Skyfall, a breathtakingly stylish series peak, director Sam Mendes (seen above) has become the rare Bond helmer to take a second spin behind the wheel. For this latest installment, Mendes has recruited Léa Seydoux, France's most excitingly game new acting product; Mexican breakout Stephanie Sigman, the terrifically terrorized lead of Gerardo Naranjo's excellent cartel thriller Miss Bala; and the forever-fabulous Monica Bellucci as a trio of Bond vixens, as well as an inevitable Christoph Waltz as the bond baddie we always knew he was going to play, and — based on the evidence of his performance in last year's Big Eyes — had seemingly already started to. And stepping in for the eternally handsome photography of Skyfall's cinematographer Roger Deakins is Hoyte van Hoytema, the Dutch-Swedish DP who made Interstellar soar without any green screens and gave Her's lush future city all the dreamy, sun-soaked light its big, techno-human heart could hold.

Spectre's months-long production recently re-located to Mexico City for a week-long, government-funded shoot that shut down D.F.'s Historical Center in order to film an extensive Day of the Dead opening sequence. Our friends at Remezcla have compiled an eye-catching assortment of images and videos from the full-blown recreation that is totally worth perusing over here.


The scene will surely make it into the flick for five or ten minutes max as one of those mandatory, high-stakes chase sequences in a randomly-chosen, ostentatiously-exoticized foreign locale that usually result in the demise of some nameless rogue.

Yes, it's obligatory. And yes, it's just the slightest bit appropriative. But yes, we'll be there opening weekend.