James Bond ordered not to film in Roman cemetery

The Arciconfraternita di Carità verso i Trapassati have barred the Spectre team from filming a funeral scene at the Verano cemetery, in the latest setback on the James Bond set


Spectre actors Naomie Harris, Léa Seydoux, Daniel Craig, Monica Bellucci and Christoph Waltz (l-r). Photograph: Jonathan Hordle/Rex Features


James Bond movie Spectre has suffered another setback after an ancient Christian confraternity vetoed filming in a famous Roman cemetery, reports the local Il Messaggero newspaper.

Director Sam Mendes is said to have been hoping to use the Verano cemetery, which boasts the graves of Italian cultural icons such as the poet Goffredo Mameli, in a funeral scene for the 24th official 007 movie. But the plan has been torpedoed by the Archconfraternity of the Departed. The 2,000-year-old site is built in the ruins of an ancient necropolis, and the organisation wants to protect the sanctity of the site from an invasion of heavy goods vehicles.

The funeral scenes are now likely to be shot at the Museum of Roman Civilisation, also in Rome. The office of Mayor Ignazio Marino reportedly received a request to film there “following technical problems that have arisen with the Arciconfraternita dei Trapassati” on Wednesday.

The cemetery setback is just the latest to hit filming of Spectre, which has already been

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from shooting a chase scene at the famous Quattro Fontane site, where there are four 16th-century baroque fountains. Filming was also halted earlier this month after Daniel Craig, who is portraying Bond for the fourth time,

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while filming a fight scene at Pinewood Studios in London. Meanwhile, campaigners have

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that a proposed scene in which 007 parachutes from a helicopter on to the 15th-century Ponte Sisto pedestrian bridge could be problematic because the site currently appears dirty and adorned with graffiti and garbage.

The Sun

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that Craig’s injury, which had initially been expected to clear up quickly, is still troubling the actor and causing delays to the shoot.

Mendes’ second turn as a Bond director, following the $1bn box office success of 2012’s Skyfall, stars the British actor opposite double Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz, French actor Léa Seydoux and Italy’s Monica Bellucci. It is expected to hit UK cinemas on 23 October and debuts in the US on 6 November.

• This article was amended on 16 February 2015 to correct the name of the Arciconfraternita di Carità verso i Trapassati, and references to the organisation as a religious order.