The first trailer for the 23rd James Bond film, Skyfall, has been released.

The short teaser shows that director Sam Mendes will continue the rebooted series' darker, gritty style, as Daniel Craig takes on the secret agent role for his third time.

Typically mysterious for a director who does not like to show his hand, the trailer gives away very little, opening with Bond apparently being interrogated as Judi Dench's M and Ralph Fiennes, who joins the series as an MI6 superior, look on.

Flashes of action are shown, with Bond firing shots, an underground train smashing through a wall and the agent leaping on to a moving train. Naomie Harris, as fellow agent Eve, is also seen giving Bond a close shave with a straight razor.

There is no clear shot of Javier Bardem's villain, Silva, although a man is glimpsed in silhouette walking away from a building as it burns to the ground.

Craig's appearance as a menacing Bond looks like he will be just as mean as he was in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, as he is seen in the trailer associating the word "murder" with "employment".

"Some people are coming to kill us," we are going to kill them first," he quips at the end of the trailer.

Skyfall will be released on 26 October.