James Bond cast to be revealed Thursday

Bond fans can breathe a sigh of relief: the wait is almost over. On Thursday, at a special event at Pinewood Studios scheduled to start at 11am GMT, the name and principle cast of the 24th official outing of the world's favorite British secret agent will be revealed.

Recent Hollywood whispers about the film, scheduled for release in October/November 2015 and set to once again star Daniel Craig as Bond, have linked everyone from Mark Strong to Penelope Cruz with the production.

The latest reports claim that double Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz has been approached to bring Bond's greatest advisory, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, back to the big screen and that Dave Bautista, the WWE wrestler and star of this year's highest grossing film to date, "Guardians of the Galaxy," is also on board as the obligatory muscle-bound henchman.

What we do already know about the film is that it will feature at least one high-speed car chase through the streets of Rome -- second-unit photography has already begun in the city -- and that this time Bond will also be taking in the sights of Morocco and Austria.

The film will see the return of Sam Mendes to the director's chair, where the film's makers will be hoping he can repeat the success he found last time with 2012's "Skyfall" -- the highest-grossing film in the Bond franchise to date.

As well as Mendes, the latest installment in the Bond series sees the return of writers Neil Purvis and Robert Wade, who were called in to redraft the original script penned by John Logan.