James Bond’s Latest Adventure Starts Filming in Rome

It may be assumed, however, that the Italian capital will be the scene of a fair amount of high-speed chases, shootouts and explosions from now until shooting wraps on March 12.

Before coming to Rome for the principal photography, shooting for the 24th installment of the 007 chronicles began on Dec. 8, 2014.

Other scenic settings in the film include sites in Mexico, Austria, Britain and Morocco.

Daniel Craig takes the role of 007 for the fourth time in the saga, accompanied by Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux as Bond girls, in addition to Christoph Waltz as the villainous mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

The cast also includes Andrew Scott, who plays a villain named Denbigh, Ralph Fiennes, as Bond’s boss, “M,” Dave Bautista taking the role of “Mr. Him” and Naomie Harris as “Moneypenny.”

The first Roman scenes were already being filmed Thursday in the city’s Eur neighborhood, particularly at the Museum of Roman Civilization, which has been transformed into a cemetery.

Other scenes will be shot in several of the eternal city’s most singular locations, such as the path linking Rome to the Vatican City up to Nomentana Street, or the Monti neighborhood.

Producers chose “SPECTRE” as the film’s title because it was the name of the international crime organization led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who appeared for the first time in the 1961 Ian Fleming novel “Thunderball.”

The film is expected to be premiered in the autumn of 2015. Daniel Craig was featured in three previous 007 movies: “Casino Royal” in 2007, “Quantum of Solace” 2008, and “Skyfall” in 2012.