Although
the vast majority of the Bond Films since Dr No have been shot at Pinewood,
possibly the world's most famous set of studios, the most recent two films,
GoldenEye
and
Tomorrow Never Dies, were mostly shot elsewhere. In 1995, Pinewood
was occupied with Sean Connery's First Night, so Barbara
Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson chose
to build an entirely new studio for the film, at a disused airfield in
Leavesden.
..
(Leavesden
Studios, where GoldenEye was filmed in 1995).
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..
When 1997
and
Tomorrow Never Dies arrived, Leavesden was unavailable because
pre-production work on the first Star Wars Prequel had begun there.
So, with time running out and a strict production schedule ahead of them,
Eon went about building yet another studio in an abandoned grocery warehouse
in Hertfordshire. Although some key scenes were shot at Pinewood, 30 miles
away, most of the filming was done in the converted warehouse.
Well,
1999 is here now and so is the inevitable: the next James Bond Film.
The
good news is that Eon are returning to Pinewood for The World Is Not
Enough. Fears that the increasing cost of filming in Britain would
drive 007 out of the country were proven unfounded, and on January 11th
1999, official production on the film began. Whilst the Second Unit travels
around the world shooting key action sequences, most of the interior shots,
for example the Mobile MI6 Headquarters
in Scotland, and the Nuclear Test Facility
sequences, are being shot on C Stage at Pinewood. Production Designer Peter
Lamont will play an important part in deciding how the sets look,
and for the MI6 Mobile Headquarters, he is said to have blended the Scottish
baronial with the hi-tec.
.
 
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That
wouldn't be James Bond, would it? Filming at Pinewood at night, above.
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This
scene takes place inside a Nuclear Test Facility in Chechnya.
Director
Michael
Apted oversees the action.
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It's
nice to see Eon return to the studio they have had a long and fruitful
association with; indeed, the fame of Pinewood studios stems from the success
of the Bond Films that were recorded there!. |
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