James Bond 21 heading to Prague for production according to tabloids

The cost of shooting a film in Britain may cause James Bond 21 to film outside of the UK, according to rumours in a Mail On Sunday (UK) report.

The paper claims that due to changes in UK tax laws, Eon Productions are in "active discussions" to make the film abroad, moving 007 from his tradition home at Pinewood Studios.



"Scouts from Eon Productions, the company behind the massive Bond franchise are in talks with studios in eastern Europe, including Prague Studios in the Czech Republic."

"The budget of the next Bond film, due to start filming in January, is $100 million, about £55 million" according to the paper.

The Mail On Sunday wheeled in it's usual "anonymous source" to back up their story.

Their "source" said, "That sounds like a lot, but Bond filims are incredibly technically involved - and while the production staff in Britain are among the best in the world, the producers will simply get more bang for their buck abroad".

Their tipster continued, "At the moment, Pinewood wants to charge Eon Productions £20,000 a week to use the stages and that is way above the prices quoted elsewhere".

Prague Studios are apparently bending over backwards to secure Bond for 2005.

BBC chairman Michael Grage, who chairs the consortium that owns Pinewood, said: "Eon Productions are under no contractual obligation to make films here. But it is premature to say the film will not be made at Pinewood."

This "news" from the UK paper is hardly groundbreaking. Prague has been rumoured as a shooting location for Bond 21 before. Back in August, trade paper Variety tipped that Eon Productions were scouting locations in Prague, but a decision was hanging on completion of the script.

Also during a recent charity action for a visit to the Bond 21, Eon Productions ammended the lot listing to include a clause if all shooting was abroad.

Thanks to `Nobody Does It Better` for the alert.

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