Eternal City Plays Host To Bond Car Chase

Footage has been released of the filming of a car chase through the streets of Rome which is expected to be a highlight of the next James Bond film.

It shows a grey Aston Martin – OO7’s signature vehicle – being pursued through the centre of the Italian capital by a dark red Jaguar at night.

Other footage shows cars racing along the banks of the River Tiber in daylight, with a crane camera set up.

The sequence is believed to show a car crashing into the river.

Spectre, the 24th instalment in the series, is expected to be released on October 25 in Denmark and then on 6 November worldwide.

It is the fourth to feature Daniel Craig as the suave superspy and follows on the heels of Skyfall, which became the highest grossing UK film ever.

From gadget-laden Aston Martins to remote-controlled BMWs, underwater Lotus Esprits and beaten-up 2CVs, car chases have long been a key ingredient to the Bond franchise.

The new video appears to show Bond being chased down the Via della Conciliazione in front of St Peter’s Basilica.

Streets around the area being used for filming have been specially cleaned for the purpose, and local campaigners are hoping they can be kept that way.

Carmen Di Penta, director of Italian environmentalist group Marevivo said: "We have always helped to keep this space tidy and clean, but today thanks to this movie production we can finally see this docking area in its ancient magnificence.

"Now everything is perfect, everything is clean, all the graffiti has been cleaned - also the most difficult to get rid of.

"We wish that at the end of this film someone notices it and feels that it would not be fun to put it back in the degraded state it was in, which is almost normal for Rome."

The Eternal City has been booked for 20 days' worth of filming and the city expects to raise around €16m (£12m) financially in benefits through local employment, permits, site rental, hotels and security charges.

Spectre – named after the terrorist organisation Bond fought in previous films and the original books – also stars Italian actress Monica Bellucci, French actress Lea Seydoux and Austrian double Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz.