Another Bond 20 Press Conference Planned

I've recently learnt from a reliable source who wishes to remain anonymous that Eon Productions and MGM are planning to hold another press conference for James Bond 20. If it goes ahead this press conference will reportedly take place this Saturday, March the 2nd, at The Eden Project; where filming will soon commence.

Few details are currently known about the press conference, however, Toby Stephens will reportedly attend. He's playing Gustav Graves, Bond 20's main villain.

Fans are, of course, keeping their fingers crossed that the people behind Bond 20 will finally reveal the films title. Fingers crossed!

If you'd like to discuss the new conference please visit this thread of the Bond 20 Forums. See you there!

Bond 20 Production Heats In Cádiz, Spain

Cadiz in Spain has been mentioned as a Bond 20 filming location before now, however, details have now surfaced in the Spanish press about happenings in Cádiz , where filming will reportedly being in the first week of April.

To begin with it is important to highlight that the location of Cádiz will not actually appear in Bond 20. Rather it is being used to represent another country. That country is Possible Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) Cuba. From here on in I'll reply to the country as the 'other' country. Perhaps for political/safety reasons the production team can't actually conduct extensive work there. During the filming of The World Is Not Enough the political situation in Istanbul turned sour and as a result producers were forced to reduce filming plans to two days work which involved filming only minor external shots.

The Spanish media is mainly concentrating on the filming of James Bond's hotel. A bulding in Cádiz knows as the Bath of the Palm will be dressed up by the crew to appear as a hotel in the 'other' country. The external shot of Bond's hotel in GoldenEye is actually that of a hotel in London so such practice is commonplace in the Bond films. In reality, the Bath of the Palm is actually the Center Andalusian of Subaqueous Archaeology.

As a part of filming in Cádiz a warf will also be constructed near the historical Castle of San Sebastián which overlooks the sea. No word yet on exactly what the warf is required for.

San Sabastian in background where the warf will be constructed (Top)
Bath of the Palm (Bottom)

Extras have also been required by the producers who searched through about 2000 people who gathered at 6 in the morning to take test shots. The producers were seeking people with similair complexions to those of people from the 'other' country.

The question remains as to whether or not actors such as Pierce Brosnan will travel to Cádiz for filming, the Spanish media seems to think so. However, with Brosnan's injury forcing him out of action for two weeks it could seem sensible to cancel any un-necessary remote filming. One notion that supports this theory is information that we reported yesterday Possible Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) that a Hotel Room is being built as one of the sets at Pinewood Studio’s.. This indicates that only external filming is perhaps required. However, that said, one Spanish source has indicated that Brosnan will be needed for a shot of Bond driving down a local highway, the filming will require only an afternoons work.

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

Missing from reports, however, is news on the hospital that has been previously been rumoured as a set. Earlier rumours had indicated that while in Cuba Bond would actually be hospitalised. We’ll have to wait and see with that one.

If you'd like to discuss this news in all its confusion please use this thread of the Bond 20 Forums!

Thanks to 'Bender' and 'Mourning Becomes Electra' for helping with this article!

2nd Unit Having Fun Filming In Iceland

The 2nd Unit, under the direction of Vic Armstrong, have now all arrived in Iceland and have already begun work filming stunt sequences of Bond 20. Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) The stunt sequence in concern is a car chase sequence involving the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. Having arrived in Iceland the crew are having to cope with tempetatures of -26 degrees Celcius.

Good luck to them!

Pictures And Report On Pre-Title Sequence

David Williams website BondPix has a report and pictures up with photos from the pre-title sequence of James Bond 20.

David was lucky enough to visit the Bond 20 filming at a military base in Aldershot. At the time the 2nd Unit, under the direction of of Vic Armstrong, was filming action which included the use of hovercrafts.

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

You’ll note from David’s picture above that Colonel Moon’s base isn’t in the friendliest part of the demilitarised zone of Korea. It’s extremely muddy.

Also from the very top picture you’ll note the tank defences, the same style that has been establised at Holywell Bay in Cornwall. This is just further proof that the two scenes link to eachother.

So be sure to head over to BondPix for a lot more photos and David's report on his set visit.

Thanks to David and Tony for letting us know about the pictures and the report!

Exclusive: More Pictures From The Bond 20 Set

Thanks to Adam Bond 20 @ CommanderBond.Net can now bring you more exclusive pictures from the James Bond set in Cornwall. We have already posted some pictures from the set which you can view here.

While the pictures contain no spoilers the report that accompanies them does contain spoilers, so you'll have to highlight it to read it;

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

The first picture we’ll take a look at is very similair to those previously revealed. Again the picture shows defences along the beach controlled by Colonel Moon. Since my last report I’ve learnt that the contrete pillars and the crossed steel structures are designed to stop larger objects such as tanks.

Yet another view along the coastline. Notice here how the defences are fewer yet still move up the slope. I assume that there is forestry at the top of the slope, and if it isn’t currently there the crew will soon create it. Pictures from Aldershot and Pinewood, where linking scenes were filming, revealed trees around Colonel Moon’s base. It will be a clever way of linking the shots.

This is a close up of Colonel Moon’s headquarters. The headquarters exterior has been constructed on top of an existing building, which is actually the local surf life saving club. You can see the sign for the life saving club in the doorway. It’s been reported to us that this exterior shell will be partially destroyed as a part of the action taking place on the beach.

The above two shots are further pictures of Colonel Moon’s headquarters, just from different angles.

This picture is of a pill-box that is a part of Colonel Moon’s defences. Inside would most likely be a gaurd who constantly surveys the beach. Obviously the guard would also be armed. Notice the concrete blocks that have been used to construct the pill-box? Well it’s not concrete I’ll tell you that much. On the right hand side of the image you’ll notice an orange coloured object. It’s the generator attached to the large light poles I mentioned yesterday.

This is an inside view of the pill-box. Notice how it’s actually a wooden construction. Unless construction is incomplete it’s unlikely that we’ll get an inside view from the pill-box. If we do, that shot would have already been completed at Pinewood.

Moving back out to sea, this is a shot of the rocks that Bond is rumoured to surf through. Some have argued that Bond will actually come through the formation on a hovercraft, however, all information to date has indicated that the hovercraft chase actually takes place on land. Colonel Moon’s base is surrounded by muddy ground.

This is the last shot that we actually have. Notice it’s of a satellite dish that’s yet to be erected by the production crew. A similair dish has been seen at both Aldershot and Pinewood, so it’s a known feature of Colonel Moon’s base.

Sadly, that's all the pictures we have to offer you for now. But you can be assured that if there's any news on Bond 20, you'll read it first at Bond 20 @ CommanderBond.Net

Until then please discuss these pictures in this thread of the Bond 20 Forums! And again a big thanks to Adam for sending in the images!

Bond 20 Title Revealed?

Back in May 2000, also known as the dark ages of Bond 20, The Mirror reported that the Bond 20 title was Beyond The Ice. While most everyone panned the title as being pure rumour it is now a commenly held belief that Beyond The Ice was to be the title of Bond 20 and was changed by producers after they learnt of the fans negative reaction to it.

While thousands of titles have subsequently flooded the Internet since then a new one has recently emerged. Due to it's close relation to Beyond The Ice I'm inclined to report the rumour as news. But please remember, it's only rumour.

Beneath The Ice

Beneath The Ice is the title according to the television program 'RTL Boulevard' in Holland. The program ran a segment on Bond 20 and continually referred to Bond 20 as Beneath The Ice.

Now there are several reasons why this may be the Bond 20 title, and equally as many as to why it may not be. For instance, if we are to believe that Beyond The Ice was the title of Bond 20 than Beneath The Ice is not a far cry from it and also a logical next step. Also Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) ‘ice’ is obviously a reference to the Ice Cavern/Ice Palace controlled by villain Gustav Graves. A lot of people have been talking about the ‘superweapon’ that is somehow related to the base. Technically, this superweapon would be beneath the ice.

Out of interest the Internet domain www.beneaththeice.com was registered on February 13 by someone from the United Kingdom. While a company such as Eon Productions didn't register the domain, when Lucas Film was registering domains for Star Wars Episode II they registered them in the names of some of their top employees in order to make them harder to track.

There are plenty of reasons that could be highlighted as to why this is or isn't the Bond 20 title. However, I think it's worthy of reporting. I myself would be quite happy with Beneath The Ice as the Bond 20 title. We all know that the Bond 20 title has to be announced sometime soon and it's very possible that 'RTL Boulevard' have somehow caught wind of it.

If you'd like to discuss Beneath The Ice as the title please visit this thread of the Bond 20 Forums.

Finally a big thanks to Rolf van der Vlist from the Netherlands for sending this news in to us!

Spy Report: More Stage Construction At Pinewood

The ever faithful 'Vanquish' checks in today with some information on set construction at Pinewood Studio's. As with most of our spy reports this one may be considered by some people to contain spoilers, so you'll have to highlight to read.

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

We all now know that the Ice Cavern is being constructed on the 007 Stage. However, construction of a new ice related set has recently begun on D Stage. As to the purpose of this set, one can only speculate. However, it seems likely that it’s another part of the Ice Cavern run by, we believe at this stage, villain Gustav Graves.

There’s also another set that’s been constructed, it’s fairly simple. It’s a hotel room, most likely Bond’s. The last time we saw Bond’s hotel room was in Tomorrow Never Dies, however, the set wasn’t constructed at Pinewood. Rather it was a converted room at the Stoke Park Club, the same golf club where they filmed the golf scene in Goldfinger.

There has been construction work on other sets, however, we'll speak more about these later. There's one in particular that, I assure you, you'll be very interested in!

Until then you can discuss this spy report in this thread of the Bond 20 Forums.

And again, a big thanks to Vanquish for sending in the news!

Talk Of More Bond Girls Involved In Bond 20

While we already know that Bond 20 will have two Bond girls, Miranda Frost and Jinx, Producer Michael G Wilson revealed at the BAFTA Awards that more Bond girls may feature in Bond 20. This, of course, wouldn't exactly be a step away from the norm. While 'The World Is Not Enough' had Dr Christmas Jones and Elektra King as it's main Bond girls, Dr Molly Warmflash and the Cigar Girl were also Bond girls, so to speak.

Wilson said at the BAFTA's that Bond 20 may "have one or two additional Bond girls" joining the cast. This statement does concur with a rumour that I've heard from Pinewood. Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read) A rumour floating around Pinewood (and I do stipulate rumour) is that Bond will be tortued by one of Colonel Moon’s henchpeople, I say henchpeople to be politically correct as the character is rumoured to be called ‘The Scorpian Girl’. Apparently scorpians are just a part of her torturing method.

If you'd like to discuss this news, or the above rumour from Pinewood, please do so in this thread of the Bond 20 Forums. And thanks to Tyler for the alert about the news.

Great Revealing Photo From The Set Of Bond 20

It was curiousity that killed the cat, but satisfaction that brought it back. So there may be some people who are reading this report who really don't want the spoiler, as a result you'll still have to highlight to read.

Spoiler Warning (Highlight To Read)

This great new picture from Bond 20 has come from ‘The Sun‘.

I can’t really believe how excited I am to see such a photo. It seems after months of speculation that Bond does get captured for a long period of time at the end of the pre-titles sequence; this scene undoubtedly takes place after the titles.

It was months ago now that CommanderBond.Net first revealed that at the conclusion of the pre-title sequence, after some deadly surfing and even more deadly hovercraft use, our venerable 007 would actually be captured by Colonel Moon. This pictures confirms it. Look at Bond’s long hair, beard and bloody and bruised body. Ladies and gentlement, a James Bond film has never been so promising.

Bond is standing on a bridge The Sun reports. As rumoured Bond won’t escape from Colonel Moon, rather he will be handed back. Personally I believe this is because Colonel Moon flees to Hong Kong. Perhaps it is General Moon, Colonel Moon’s father, and an all round nice guy (we’re so far told) who orders Bond’s return to the Wst. However, while The Sun reports that Bond is handed back to the South Korean’s other reports have indicated he’ll actually be handed back to the American’s in the American part of the Demilitarised Zone of Korea. This is, perhaps, where the CIA Agent Falco (played by Michael Madsen) first enters the picture.

Sources have also indicated that the British are unaware of Bond’s release and may actually believe him to be dead.

On rumours, The Sun reports that Bond is handed back after ‘months’. Other 007 sites have reported that Bond will actually be held captive for ‘years’. Months seems far more plausible.

Forgetting the Bond 20 plot, take a look at the work that has gone into Bond’s appearance. We know from press photos and logical thinking that Brosnan’s hair is nowhere near that long at present, nor is he really sporting a beard. Take a look at the bloody patch under his chin. And notice the strange pattern on his tatty top.

I Can't Wait For Bond 20

If you'd like to discuss this picture, or my report, (hey, who wouldn't!) be sure to visit this thread of the Bond 20 Forums. See you there!

Thanks to Tyler for the alert!

Vic Armstrong Wins BAFTA Award

Vic Armstrong, who has worked on many Bond films and currently working on Bond 20 as the 2nd Unit Director, has won a BAFTA award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinema. While uncredited, Vic's first Bond film was 1967's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, Bond doesn't fill his credits alone. He's worked on other great films such as Superman, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom just to name a few.

Vic is flying back out to Iceland tomorrow to continue work on Bond 20.

Update: Correction time! Vic Armstrong's first film wasn't actually On Her Majesty's Secret Service, it was You Only Live Twice. Vic was actually the first ninja into the volcano.