Quantum of Solace: eventful shooting in Italy

There must have been some red faces at Aston Martin following an incident when one of their drivers crashed off the road in a DBS on the morning of April 19th while driving in heavy rain.

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The car, one of five involved in shooting at Lake Garda in Italy, plunged into 50 metres (150 feet) of water, knocking the driver unconscious. Fraser Dunn came round with the car on the bottom of the lake and smashed his way out of the car. Managing to swim to the surface, he should certainly count himself lucky as 50 metres is usually considered beyond the depth of recreational scuba diving.

The incident took place en route to an Aston Martin photo shoot had nothing to do with filming, although it has been widely linked directly to Quantum of Solace in the press.

Several days later a stuntman was seriously injured while filming a car chase and airlifted to a hospital in Verona. According to a statement released by the production, Aris Comninos was stable after an operation on a head injury. The driver, a Greek national, was at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo; filming by the second unit was immediately suspended, although it is unlikely to resume as it was the last day of filming at this location. You can see a photo of the aftermath of the accident at mi6.co.uk.

There has been no further word regarding the condition of Comninos, but we wish him a full and speedy recovery.

The production has now moved to Bregenz in Austria, where they are shooting a sequence around the lake side opera – more pics from MI6.

Meanwhile a member of the Austria crew remains in a critical condition after being stabbed a domestic dispute. He was found unconscious with deep cuts to his head and hands.

Lastly, the question of who will sing the theme for Quantum of Solace. There have been rumours flying around that Amy Winehouse had landed the job, but in fact she was one of several artists selected to provide a demo to Eon. However, artistic differences with producer and collaborator Mark Ronson mean that she appears to have walked away from the project.