James Bond in Italy

Daniel Craig arrived in Italy on Sunday 6th April 2008. Filming for the upcoming James Bond film "Quantum of Solace" is now underway in and around the town of Siena. According to local press, Craig arrived during the night, escorted by two bodyguards. He has taken residence in a quiet region on the outskirts of the city.
The first scenes to be filmed were in Sant' Agata, where Craig was performing stunts on cables and harnesses. In one sequence, 007 climbs a drain pipe up the side of a building whilst his target runs across the rooftop.
The town council at Siena gave permission for filming in which James Bond chases through the steep and narrow cobbled streets, across the rooftops and through the underground medieval aqueducts, while the horses thunder round the Campo, the main square. Bond himself will not be riding any horses during the film. The first round of filming back in August focused on the race, with scenes involving actors to be inserted later.
Preparations in Siena began on February 11th, and since then four cranes have appeared towering over the Siena skyline.
Early in the adventure, roughly ten minutes of the film will be spent amongst the streets and rooftops of Siena in a thrilling chase sequence. Some buildings are having minor adjustments made to accommodate the action. Filming for these scenes is now underway (ending by April 13th) and the production is utilising a 'cable cam' to capture to action - the first time this equipment has been used on a feature film. Other location work during this period will also take in the marble quarries of Fantiscritti and Canalgrade near the city of Carrara.
Shooting will then move to Passo del Vestito and Altagnana on May 2nd for a week, with the chase culminating at the Piazza del Campe (where the Pailo horse race was featured) during the first three weeks of May. The chase on-foot will move through the buildings, rooftops and balconies in Siena.

The chase sequence was originally written to end at the Siena Duomo (cathedral), but this was later discarded as it was seen to be disrespectful to the location. Instead, 007 will emerge from the fountain in the Piazza del Campo just at the moment that the horse race ends. The network of underground tunnels ('bottini') were reconstructed in Pinewood as filming at the real location was not possible.
A small unit and four stuntmen had been preparing for the action scenes since March, especially for the stunt where Bond jumps out of a window on to a fast moving bus (a specially modified bus was built for the shot). The bus will be speeding against the flow of traffic towards a bridge.