In the years since his mid-‘80s professional debut, Mathieu Amalric has amassed an impressive resume consisting of over 50 television shows and movies. Although he’s best known for his stellar work in 2007’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Mathieu Amalric’s turn as the villain in the James Bond adventure Quantam of Solace will surely transform him into a household name.

Read more about Mathieu Amalric at AskMen.com

The car, one of five involved in shooting at Lake Garda in Italy, plunged into 50 metres (150 feet) of water, knocking the driver unconscious. Fraser Dunn came round with the car on the bottom of the lake and smashed his way out of the car. Managing to swim to the surface, he should certainly count himself lucky as 50 metres is usually considered beyond the depth of recreational scuba diving.

The incident took place en route to an Aston Martin photo shoot had nothing to do with filming, although it has been widely linked directly to Quantum of Solace in the press.

Several days later a stuntman was seriously injured while filming a car chase and airlifted to a hospital in Verona. According to a statement released by the production, Aris Comninos was stable after an operation on a head injury. The driver, a Greek national, was at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo; filming by the second unit was immediately suspended, although it is unlikely to resume as it was the last day of filming at this location. You can see a photo of the aftermath of the accident at mi6.co.uk.

There has been no further word regarding the condition of Comninos, but we wish him a full and speedy recovery.

The production has now moved to Bregenz in Austria, where they are shooting a sequence around the lake side opera - more pics from MI6.

Meanwhile a member of the Austria crew remains in a critical condition after being stabbed a domestic dispute. He was found unconscious with deep cuts to his head and hands.

Lastly, the question of who will sing the theme for Quantum of Solace. There have been rumours flying around that Amy Winehouse had landed the job, but in fact she was one of several artists selected to provide a demo to Eon. However, artistic differences with producer and collaborator Mark Ronson mean that she appears to have walked away from the project.

Daniel Craig touched down in Italy on April 6th to take part in filming on the rooftops, which planned to continue until April 12th. Once the rooftop sequence is in the can the production will move to Lake Garda for 2 weeks, while a second unit will be located a Talamone. The main unit then moves to Carrara for a fortnight, after which they head back to Siena to shoot scenes in the Piazza del Campo between 13th and 17th May.

South and Central American locations

Previously the production had been filming in Panama and Chile after location work in London and the 007 Stage at Pinewood in January. Filming first took place in various locations in Panama City old town, followed by Colon, some 80 km from Panama City and additional scenes shot off the coast of Panama in mid-March.

Although it was widely reported by some sections of the media that on set gang rivalry was affecting the shooting, this turned out to be a fabrication. And the report of a local gang member being shot dead by police in a riot connected with filming turned out to be a “journalist” falsely linking a protest about working conditions in the construction industry with Quantum of Solace and the equally false gang stories.

Reports that crewmembers were in fear of their lives finally prompted the producers to releases a statement to the effect that filming was on schedule and those reports were completely false, as loved ones back home were becoming increasingly concerned at hearing these reports repeated throughout the gutter press.

Following Panama, the cast and crew flew to Chile to use the ESO’s (European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere) Very large Telescope on the 2,600m Cerro Paranal mountain in the Atacama Desert.

And in one quite bizarre incident in Sierra Gorda in the Antofagasta region of Chile, the local mayor caused an on-set incident. Upset at his county being portrayed as Bolivia and claiming that the producers had not requested his permission to film there, he drove his car onto the set where Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko were filming a scene; he was immediately arrested for trespass, but released shortly after.

This antagonism toward the filmmakers for portraying their country as Bolivia stems from the territory being annexed by Chile the 1879-1883 war against Bolivia and appears to be held widely in the area, although it is of course perfectly normal for films to be shot in countries other than those portrayed.

Cast and Crew

Other news that has emerged is that Marc Forster has said that he won’t be involved in Bond 23, and would only get involved with such a big project he was the driving force behind the whole project. Meanwhile Daniel Craig joked that he’ll do 12 more Bond films, indicating that he seems to be committed to Bond for the foreseeable future. And Michael G Wilson has indicated that he wants a break from Bond, signalling that Bond 23 is likely to be a 3-year wait.

Read more about Quantum of Solace

The book will be titled Quantum of Solace and contain the following stories:

From A View To A Kill
For Your Eyes Only
Quantum of Solace
Risico
The Hildebrand Rarity
Octopussy
The Property of a Lady
The Living Daylights
007 in New York

Quantum of Solace will be published on May 29th, the day after the Ian Fleming centenary.

Ford is widely credited with reviving the fortunes of Gucci, which he left in 2004 to set up Tom Ford International. However, while Ford has made no official announcement, Daniel Craig talks about wearing his suits in an interview shot on location in Panama.

Read more about Quantum of Solace

With an increased page count, this publication looks as if it is going to get better and better with each issue. Here’s what you’ll find inside:

• Sir Roger Moore exclusive interview – my word is my bond
• Quantum Of Solace the first glimpse at Daniel Craig’s second James Bond outing
• Ian Fleming his reports on location in Istanbul for From Russia With Love
• Nobody Does It Better The Spy Who Loved Me 30th anniversary
• Collecting the Pan paperback artwork of Sam Peffer
• GoldenEye 007 the legend lives on - the title that changed gaming forever
• Event preview of the Ian Fleming centenary celebrations
• The Midas Touch? Sean Connery on the Goldfinger script
• The Bond Connection a look at the 007 inspired comic book Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• The Last Word Martine Beswicke on her two Bond girl roles

Visit the MI6 Declassified website for ordering information.