According to reports in the Turkish media, including the leading English-language newspaper ‘The Hurriyet Daily News’, the first Adana leg of the Turkish shooting for ‘Skyfall’ has now been completed, and the production is now moving on to Istanbul.
Reports suggest that Adana has received a major boost to tourist numbers as a result of the interest created by the new Bond movie. At various stages, central Adana saw some key roads closed off for some motorbike stunt work by the second unit, involving the Swedish actor Ola Rapace. Forty-year old Rapace, who was personally sought out by Sam Mendes after the ‘Skyfall’ director saw him in ‘Together’, is playing the role of Patrice, a character who will prove to be a formidable adversary for Daniel Craig’s 007 in the pre-credits sequences in ‘Skyfall’.
Preparations for the Adana shooting started in February, and during March and April various stunts and other action sequences were rehearsed and shot on the road and railway network throughout Adana. The filming included some work on Kasim Gulek Bridge and at the city’s central station, together with some further filming on the famous and historic Vardar Bridge.
According to reports from Turkey, the shooting at the Vardar Bridge even helped some locals in the city learn more about the history of the Vardar Bridge, which is thought to have been built originally by the Germans during the period of the Ottoman Empire and is a place of architectural significance.
There was also another interesting side-effect to the ‘Skyfall’ production team using Adana. According to locals in the city, the production team sought out various antiques and other ephemera from the local antique and second-hand shops. Members of the production team purchased old objects and accessories such as bamboo-made furniture, a 1960s radio, bookshelves, and a considerable number of books and comic-books. The books were apparently chosen according to their covers. The production team, using a translator, told local antique dealers that they needed ‘some old goods’ for the new movie.
Intriguingly, one second-hand dealer, who sold a coffee box to the production team in Adana, was told by the production team’s buyers that they intended to ‘put a scorpion in it’.