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USA Today has posted A STORY about the female cast of SPECTRE.
Here’s an excerpt of the story by Brian Truitt:
They’re girls no more.
The women inhabiting the 24th James Bond movie are just as complex as the guy holding the license to kill in director Sam Mendes’ Spectre (in theaters Nov. 6). USA TODAY gets a sneak peek at the dossiers for the international female quartet who will complement Daniel Craig’s 007:
The story then has brief bios of Lea Seadoux, Monica Bellucci, Naomie Harris and Stephanie Sigman. There are also pictures of all four actresses. To view the entire story, CLICK HERE.
Michael G. Wilson, co-boss of Eon Productions, denied that Mexican incentives resulted in script changes for SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond film, according to a story by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
Wilson spoke at a press conference in Mexico City where SPECTRE is gearing up to film. The official 007 Twitter feed earlier today said the Mexican sequence, which includes the Day of the Dead festival, will be the film’s opening sequence.
“There is nothing in the script that we hadn’t had before,” Wilson said, according to AP.
Tax Analysts, a website for tax professionals, reported IN A MARCH 3 STORY that script changes and casting choices were made to secure as much as $20 million in Mexican incenties. The website cited memos that became public after hacking at Sony Pictures. According to Tax Analysts, memos indicated SPECTRE had to cast a “known Mexican actress” for Estrella.
Wilson said at the press conference that “we always had a Mexican actress playing this part.” Mexcian actress Stephanie Sigman was cast in the part. Sigman was also with Wilson at the press conference.
Wilson also said the movie’s writers believed using the Day of the Dead festival “would be an excellent background in the opening sequence.”
The hacked Sony documents also indicated that SPECTRE’s budget was at a pace to exceed $300 million, making it one of the most expensive movies of all time. Tax Analysts said Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Sony, which is releasing SPECTRE, wanted to maximize the Mexican incentives to hold down studio costs.
To real the full AP story (Via the US News and World Report website): CLICK HERE.
UPDATE: Here’s a video from NotimexTV in Mexico uploaded to YouTube. It’s in Spanish, but you can hear Wilson speaking under a translator:
UPDATE II (March 19): The MI6 James Bond website has A STORY with additional Wilson comments from the Mexico City press conference. The story quotes Wilson as saying SPECTRE got financial support from Mexican companies, including hotels and other tourist-related businesses. The story also has some additional details about the Mexico shooting schedule.
The official 007 Twitter feed confirmed the crew of the 24th James Bond film is about to get to work in Mexico City.
Amusingly, the 007 Twitter feed was chided by one fan for giving out a spoiler, namely that the movie’s opening will incorporate the Day of the Dead festival. Then again, when it’s officially announced, it’s not a spoiler anymore. Also, many photos have been seen over social media the past week of SPECTRE’s crew getting ready in Mexico City.
Here’s the Tweet:
Filming on #SPECTRE has moved to Mexico City to shoot the opening sequence which will feature the Day of the Dead festival
Meanwhile, the James Bond Brasil website tweeted out pictures of Eon Productions co-boss Michael G. Wilson and actress Stephanie Sigman in Mexico City.
The Mexican actress was the lead in the Academy Awards nominated Miss Bala (2011) and also starred in Norway’s submission for Best Film at this year’s Oscars®, Pioneer (2013). Her recent TV appearances include, The Bridge (2013) and Narcos (2015).
You can look at Stephanie Sigman’s IMDB.com entry by CLICKING HERE.