To execute these amazing aerobatics, the production secured the services of top stunt pilot Chuck Aaron, one of just three people in the world licensed to perform them. And Empire’s hunch is that that might not even be the most mind-blowing thing you’ll see the helicopter do. “It’s more challenging for the city than for us, to close down a square where all the roads come together, especially with the Mexican White House being part of the square.” The demands of the script don’t make life any easier, Witt explains: “It’s elaborate because you have 1,500 extras and you’ve got to fill up a square that you probably need two or three hundred thousand people to look like it’s full.” Indeed, as he speaks, ADs in the Zócalo herd the extras into different sections of the square, to be filmed in such a way that a composite image can be created later.Īnd then, of course, there’s the small matter of the aforementioned chopper, which will soon be involved in the hair-raising stunt seen in the second trailer: a 360-degree mid-air corkscrew that makes The Man With The Golden Gun’s car-based spiral jump look likeĪ wheelie on a BMX. Witt, meanwhile, acknowledges the challenge of shutting down and taking over a major traffic hub in one of the world’s most populous cities. I don’t think I’ll ever see it like this again!” It’s always been a great event I’ve seen bits and pieces of it, but not like this. “I mean, look at that! When Mexico City and Day Of The Dead became part of the mix, we looked at it in a very excited way and said this could be an amazing opening. “Did you see what we’re doing out here?” he asks, gesturing at the Spectre-cle below. in his off-white linen suit and fedora, the laid-back Canadian talks in an easy drawl (think Jeff Bridges playing Alan Grant) but becomes remarkably animated as he points out his team’s achievements. That was pretty big, getting all the costumes and people and dancers, and we’ve done that here, but it’s a much bigger operation.” “The only thing that’s come close to it was putting on the carnival in Rio in Moonraker. “This is the biggest opening sequence we’ve ever done, maybe the biggest sequence we’ve ever done,” he tells Empire, pondering the complex logistics of it all. It’s fair to say that we’re impressed too.Īs, indeed, are some of the architects of the scene, who join us on the balcony: second unit director Alexander Witt, production designer Dennis Gassner, costume designer Jany Temime, and- quietly surveying the action like a proud parent on sports day - producer Michael G. another 500 extras, playing spectators, entertainers, police and soldiers, litter the square, while next to the stage is a beefy-looking military helicopter, which is about to embark on a less-than-smooth journey. On the stage is the festival’s centrepiece, La Catrina: a giant grinning skull, 30 or 40 feet high, flanked on either side by two equally tall, cackling skeletons. Below us, in the Zócalo - Mexico City’s vast central square, bordered by a cathedral, a palace and various government buildings - a thousand extras, garbed in the macabre costumes of the country’s Day Of the Dead festival, are snaking their way towards an imposing, nightmarish stage erected at its centre. Earlier that day, Empire is perched on a balcony of the city’s sumptuous gran hotel. Yep, it’s fair to say that even Daniel Craig is impressed. You’d expect Johnny Extra to gush about anything they saw on a 007 set, but when the actor brandishing the superlatives has already demolished a canalside building in Venice, freefallen from a disintegrating DC-3 into a desert sinkhole and downed a helicopter by blowing up his character’s own ancestral home beneath it, you take them at their word. It’s a sultry March evening in Mexico City, and the topic under discussion is the traditionally eye-popping pre-title sequence of the 24th Bond film, currently shooting in the capital. I’ve never seen anything like it,” one of Spectre’s cast tells Empire.
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