James Bond producer Michael G. Wilson says it's not uncommon to get incentives but denies they made creative changes to seek financial boost from Mexico.
- March 20, 2015
AceShowbiz -
Producer Michael G. Wilson responds to rumors that "Spectre" script was tweaked to depict Mexico in a more positive light in exchange of monetary boost. He dismisses the reports, "There is nothing in the script that we hadn't had before."
"Everywhere we go we have incentives," the producer says. "Sometimes they're taxes; sometimes they're other kind of incentives. You can get cooperation, you can get things you would usually pay for free and all that."
Producers allegedly avoided hiring a Mexican star in the role of the assassin in an attempt to get extra incentives from the Mexican government. While Mexican officials declines to comment, Wilson insists, "The villain was always an Italian ... we already shot that in Rome."
He also denies casting Mexican actress Stephanie Sigman as one of Bond girls, Estrella, to sweeten the incentives deal with the country. "We always had a Mexican actress playing this part," he claims at a news conference as quoted by The Associated Press.
Of the rumor that Mexico's Day of the Dead Festival will be seen in the next James Bond film, the producer confirms it's true but insists it's for creative reasons. "The writers thought the day of the death would be an excellent background in the opening sequence, very colorful, very mysterious," he explains. "You can only do that in Mexico. There is no other place that offers that but Mexico."
