'SPECTRE' Films a Dangerous Day of the Dead Celebration in Mexico

Daniel Craig runs among the rubble during the Mexico City shoot of ‘SPECTRE’

After shooting at London’s Pinewood Studio and making European excursions to Rome and the mountains of Austria, the cast and crew of SPECTRE have made their way to Mexico City to continue production on the 24th James Bond film.

The movie, which brings back Daniel Craig as the British secret agent 007, began shooting in the Mexican capital last week. And as you can see from the new images above and below, the production involves both violent explosions as a suit-and-tie wearing Bond chases after a pony-tailed bad guy and a festive float-filled parade in honor of La Dia De Los Muertos (which may have a double meaning in a movie like this!)

SPECTRE continues the 007 tradition of beautiful Bond Girls, including Monica Bellucci, Léa Seydoux, and 27-year-old actress Stephanie Sigman, who’s the first Bond girl from Mexico.

Some of the colorful Day of the Dead celebration floats on set

Between the festive parade and Sigman’s casting, it seems that SPECTRE is working hard to show Mexico in a positive light — and that’s no accident. Last week, it was reported that the Mexican government was very concerned about how the country would be portrayed by director Sam Mendes and Co.

With plenty of tax credits to offer the production, the government reportedly requested that the bad guy in the film not be Mexican and that the fictional mayor of Mexico City not be assassinated. Michael Wilson, one of the film’s producers, told Agence France-Presse that local officials were indeed concerned about the tenor of the movie, but that no changes were requested. (He noted, for instance, that the villain was always meant to be Italian.)

“It’s more like us asking questions and then discussing it with [Mexican authorities] than them demanding anything in the way of changing [the screenplay],” he said. “I know they want to see — they would love to see — Mexico in a good light and we are not here to put Mexico in a bad light.”

Craig climbs over a balcony

SPECTRE — which returns Ralph Fiennes as M, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny and Ben Whishaw as Q — brings Bond back in conflict with the legendary crime syndicate from which the film takes its name. The movie, which also stars Guardians of the Galaxy breakout Dave Bautista, hits theaters on Nov. 6.

Watch a behind-the-scenes look at ‘SPECTRE:’

Photo credit: @Splash News