Newest Bond Film Takes Rome

Monica Bellucci and Daniel Craig on location in Rome

The movie poster for the highly-anticipated Bond film, "Spectre".

the 24th James Bond movie, SpectreIMDb describes “Spectre’s” plot as “A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.”

“Spectre” will be Daniel Craig’s fourth Bond movie, but the 24th overall James Bond film. Overseen by its director, Sam Mendes, filming of the newest Bond movie will take place in Rome between February 19 and March 12. Filming is already well underway with a funeral scene filmed in the historic Piazza Giovanni Agnelli last week. Also, just tonight, a car chase showcasing Bond’s signature silver Ashton Martin, that shut down Corso Vittorio Emanuele II for the night, was filmed. Another anticipated scene to be shot in Rome includes a parachute jump onto the Ponte Sisto. Some of the other locations where the film will be shot include, London, Mexico City, Tangier and Erfoud (both cities located in Morocco).
 

 The film’s plot was revealed even more explicitly as this latest 007 installment was also a victim to the Sony hack that occurred late last year. Thanks to the email leaks that were a result of the hack, not only was the film’s massive budget disclosed, over $300 million, but the film’s secretive script and the film’s ending were also revealed.

Playing Craig’s leading lady, Monica Bellucci, will play the oldest ever Bond girl, or as she prefers to be called, “Bond woman or Bond lady”. Prior to Bellucci, the oldest Bond girl was played by Honor Blackman at age 39.

A native of Città di Castello in Umbria, Bellucci was a model before making her acting debut on television in 1990. Bellucci represents the new trend that women over 50 are still able to have a strong role in the entertainment world. She told Event Magazine, “What is the problem with a man of 30 being with a woman of 50.

It is a matter of energy and the soul, not a matter of age of the body. True sexiness is in the mind, the imagination, not in the age of the body.” In the eyes of Bellucci, age is simply a number; it is how you feel that makes you sexy, not your age that determines it. It is also interesting to note that James Bond himself, Craig, is only four years younger than Bellucci at 46 years old. However, it seems that age is only mentioned (or perhaps matters) when referring to female entertainers.

In addition to seeing its beautiful, historic city on the big screen, Rome will reap the economic benefits of having scenes from “Spectre” filmed in its city. The use of extras, security guards, film crews, catering services and hotels will certainly increase Roman city official’s estimate of up to 1 million euros in profit due to just permit fees. Even some locals may profit—reportedly, Roman residents living along Bond’s car chase route are offering up their apartments to fans for 1.000 euros a day!

James Bond and his Italian “Bond woman” can be seen on the big screen when “Spectre” hits U.S. theatres Nov. 6, 2015.