Stuntman in serious but stable condition after accident

26-Apr-2008 • Quantum Of Solace

Two stuntmen filming a scene for the new James Bond movie were recovering Friday after they were involved in an accident on the shores of Italy's Lake Garda, a spokeswoman for the production company told CNN.

Aris Comninos, 40, is in serious but stable condition after the accident Wedneday in an Alfa Romeo, said a spokeswoman for Eon Productions in London, who asked that her name not be used. Stuntman Bruno Verdirosi, whose age was not given, suffered minor injuries in the crash.

Filming of the latest movie, Quantum of Solace, was suspended while the accident is investigated, Eon Productions said in a statement.

The spokeswoman confirmed two other incidents in the past week on the shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy, but said numerous reports of a series of accidents and injuries on the set are incorrect.

She said a "very, very, very minor" incident happened this week while filming the same sequence but no one was hurt. She said it did not involve the two stuntmen hurt in Wednesday's accident.

Saturday, she said, an Aston Martin was involved in an accident while being delivered to a publicity shoot for the movie. Italian media showed pictures of a wrecked Aston Martin being fished out of Lake Garda on Saturday.

The spokeswoman said the car was not being used in the movie and had been driven by an Aston Martin employee.

"It wasn't on the filming set and none of our cast and crew witnessed or was involved in the accident," she said.

Quantum of Solace is the 22nd James Bond film and the second one to star Daniel Craig. It is due for release worldwide in November.

While not involved in filming Quantum of Solace, stuntman Jim Dowdall -- who trained Comninos -- acknowledged his line of work is increasingly dangerous.

"Cinemagoers demand more and greater stunt action because CGI (computer-generated images) and computers have failed to give them the mix that the quality of doing it for real brings to people," Dowdall told CNN from Maidstone, England.

"We are pushing the envelope further, but we have the advantage each time with more and more safety factors," he said. "But in the end, it's not a science."

Dowdall said he and Comninos have both had to go through Britain's strictly regulated system for stuntmen which requires qualification in six of about 20 sports considered applicable for stuntwork, followed by a probationary period.