South Africa mocks India filming permission issues, wants Bond 23

South Africa's Cape Film Commission has spared no time in mocking the problems the 23rd James Bond production has experienced in securing filming permissions in India, and hopes to have Daniel Craig and company move the shoot to their country instead.

"Cape Town welcomes James Bond whenever he decides to visit us," said Cape Film Commission chief executive Denis Lillie to the Associated Press.

In recent days, Take One Productions - the production company assisting EON Productions in India for Bond 23 - has been open about the issues facing the film in securing all the necessary permissions to close down busy railways.

"This demonstrates how a film project can very quickly go 'off the rails' if the coordination between city and government departments are not in place," said Lillie.

"Cape Town would not be happy to benefit from someone else's loss," he said, but added that the city's film-friendliness and bureaucratic coordination had been demonstrated during the 2010 football World Cup and its hosting of big films.

"Our city has all the facilities required for a shoot of this magnitude," said councillor Grant Pascoe, a mayoral committee member for tourism, events and marketing. "I would like to assure the producers that we stand ready."

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