James Bond Caught in Real Life Gang War
Filed under: Action, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, James Bond, Remakes and Sequels
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Depending on who you read, Daniel Craig, as well as the cast and crew of Quantum of Solace (aka Bond 22), were either caught up in the middle of a gang turf war down in Panama ... or they're completely safe without a worry in the world. Oh yes, I definitely said gang turf war -- and if the Daily Mail is right (which they're probably not), things seem to be getting hella dangerous down on the Panama set of the next James Bond film. DM says, "Daniel has had to dodge the crossfire as gangsters spray bullets at each other on the set. Bond girls Gemma Arterton, 22, and Olga Kurylenko, 28, are also under armed guard, while terrified crew are having to brave the deadliest warzones as they struggle to get the blockbuster "in the can." And that's not all -- a little above that quote, they claim Craig's guards have already "taken out" one gangster in a hail of bullets. How do you say ... AWESOME DVD extras in (what do they speak down in Panama?).
Now, according to a statement from producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, this whole thing is just a big misunderstanding. In a joint statement, they say, "The filming of 'Quantum of Solace', with director Marc Forster at the helm, is on schedule and will continue as planned in Panama. None of the cast or crew have ever been in danger. Reports of troubles with gangs are untrue. The protests are to do with the fatal shooting of a construction worker in Colon and are unrelated to our filming activities. Our cast and crew have not been threatened and no thefts or muggings have occurred. These scurrilous and irresponsible reports in The Daily Star have caused distress to the UK families of our filming unit."
Really? I wonder why? Was it the part where they quote an anonymous crew member saying, "Quite a few of the crew are considering clearing out because they fear for their lives. It's chaotic." Regardless, I think someone needs to evaluate what the hell is going on in Panama right now -- last thing we need is James Bond being "taken out" when he still has a few more films to shoot.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-18-2008 @ 12:47PM
Peter Hall said...
I call bull on the Daily Mail piece. There are no massive gang wars in Panama City and especially none that are going to be spanning multi-million dollar movie sets. Street crime in Colon and a few other towns outside the city is on the rise, but not in or even around Panama City.
Then again, I did have to sign a waiver last year saying my employer would not pay a ransom if I was kidnapped. Oh, and Panama is a Spanish speaking country, but use the American dollar as their currency. VERY cheap drinking.
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2-18-2008 @ 1:26PM
Claudia Lomelí said...
Spanish, they speak spanish.
It's unsensitive how you find that funny I do not believe it happened -the whole gang turf war on set- but if it did, the whole "awesome DVD extras" is really unsensitive of your part.
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2-18-2008 @ 1:37PM
valentine said...
Wow. I can't believe we're getting our "news" from tabloid papers here now...
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2-18-2008 @ 3:38PM
BondsBabe said...
I hope that Daily Mail is just blowing smoke, and that everything is cool on set. No Bond movie is worth any caast or crew being in any danger.
I know you wouldn't have made any jokes had you believed anyone was truly in harms way, so I thought your 'Awesome DVD extras' comment was funny.
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2-18-2008 @ 4:27PM
LordPaul said...
Uh, it's the daily Star, not the Mail, you might wanna fix that.
Still a rag not worthy of wiping my arse with & probably not the best source of factual information.
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2-18-2008 @ 10:35PM
Arturo Virzi said...
Hey Cinematical,
Im living in Panama right now and i can easily tell you that there have been any gang wars in the last couple of months that anyone knows about. The real deal is that a construction worker was murdered recently and they are protesting about it, no big deal. I heard a rumor about some lights being stolen in Colon and thats about it. Besides that, filming is going perfectly fine, i know cause i get to see all the cool explosions around Panama Bay. :-D
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2-19-2008 @ 3:11PM
Jim said...
This is not news.
For shame.
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2-19-2008 @ 5:21PM
katied said...
Again,Cinematical is a day late and a dollar short on the Bond news.To say nothing of the fact it's not true *eyeroll*
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