On Monday morning, Sam Smith unveiled his latest video for the theme song to Spectre, the latest Bond Film starring Daniel Craig. Titled “Writing’s On The Wall,” the song and video evoke several dark, disturbing themes.
Though Smith denied rumors that he would be singing the theme song last month, his excitement was obvious when he finally made the announcement. “This is one of the highlights of my career. I am honored to finally announce that I will be singing the next Bond theme song. I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line up of some of my biggest musical inspirations. I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed making it,” he said.
Despite his excitement, the song and video are actually quite sad. The video opens on Smith standing in front of a row of caskets to a background of melancholic string music. Featuring footage from Spectre, we then see Daniel Craig walking on a sidewalk in sunglasses. We also see Monica Bellucci, who also stars in Spectre, drinking and, later, unzipping her dress. The entire video is a bit eerie, very dark, and intensely epic.
Smith is dropping the video just one week after he released the song; this is probably in response to the fact that Monday is Global James Bond Day, a holiday created by the production company in lieu of the Bond franchise’s 50th anniversary of the first Bond film, Dr. No (1962). Exactly three years ago, Adele released her video for “Skyfall.” Smith’s “Writing’s On The Wall” has become the first Bond theme song to top the British pop charts.
Spectre will be out November 6 worldwide and is the 24th Bond film produced by Eon Productions. However, there are some new aspects of the film as well. Léa Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Color) will be the new Bond girl, which is evident from the footage in Smith’s video. This will be Daniel Craig’s fourth film starring as James Bond, following Skyfall, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace.