Written by on Apr 18, 2012. Posted in Production News

James Bond feature Skyfall has stunt problems filming on location in Istanbul

Filming for the new James Bond film Skyfall has had a stunt problem on location in Istanbul. The production was filming a motorcycle chase sequence in the Turkish city’s famous Grand Bazaar when a stunt man swerved to avoid extras and ended up crashing through a shop window.

Mete Boybeyi is the shop’s owner and spoke to Reuters: “It is very nice for the Grand Bazaar to be chosen as a location for shooting this kind of movie. But the bazaar's administration ... didn't notify us the shooting would be like this. This place is regulated by the Council of Monuments. We can't even change our window without their permission.”

Skyfall was initially expected to continue the franchise’s grand tradition of globe-trotting location filming, despite the production eventually abandoning plans to film action scenes in India as negotiations dragged.

Skyfall was initially expected to continue the franchise’s grand tradition of globe-trotting location filming, despite the production eventually abandoning plans to film action scenes in India as negotiations dragged.

In recent months the project has been filming extensively in the UK and at Pinewood Studios. Various reports have suggested that Istanbul will be the only international filming location, although this hasn’t been officially confirmed. It’s not clear whether the Istanbul shoot is first- or second-unit filming.

(Main page image copyright: United Artists and Columbia Pictures)