The country of Mexico offered the makers of the next James Bond film $20 million in incentives to make important changes to their upcoming movie, Spectre .
The country asked for a number of changes to the Bond movie including the addition of a Mexican Bond girl and replacing the Mexican police with a special force. They also asked that the Bond movie’s villain Sciarra not be Mexican, and that the assassination target be changed from the Mayor of Mexico city to someone else, according to Tax Analysts .
Jonathan Glickman, president of MGM’s motion picture group, told Tax Analysts the incentives included a number of money saving tax cuts for the upcoming Bond movie.
“We are currently facing a budget that is far beyond what we anticipated and are under immense pressure to reduce the number to $250M net of rebates and incentives. This is not about ‘nickel and diming’ the production. As of now, our shooting period is $50M higher than Skyfall and the current gross budget sits in the mid $300Ms, making this one of the most expensive films ever made.”
The website Tax Analysts published the report after analyzing emails leaked from Sony.
The opening scene of the upcoming James Bond movie takes place in Mexico and the country was reportedly interested in improving its image.
Mexico offered MGM $14 million for the changes to the Bond movie and said it would throw in an additional $6 million for attractive shots of the Mexico City skyline and modern Mexican buildings, according to the LA Times .
The country has been trying to repair its image following a string of killings and corruption scandals, and MGM was only too happy to agree to the country’s request in exchange for the additional funds.
The Inquisitr recently reported Stephanie Sigman will play the new Bond girl Estrella.
Sigman will be the second Latino Bond girl in the film’s franchise and the only one since Lupe Lamora played Talisa Soto in the Bond movie License To Kill filmed in 1989.
Bond filmmakers also replaced a cage-fighting scene with a chase through a Day of the Dead parade, according to UK’s The Telegraph .
An ambassador has also been written into the script to replace the governor of Mexico City and, at the end of the scene James Bond flies a helicopter off into the Mexican skyline, according to Tax Analysts .
It’s not unusual for movies to favor the locations their scenes are shot in, but Mexico seems to have gone above and beyond this time.