The coming of the new millennium brought Barrandov to world recognition: ‘From hell (2001), A knight’s tale (2001), Blade II (2002), The Bourne Identity (2002), Hart’s war (2002), Shanghai Knights (2003), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Hellboy (2004), The Brothers Grimm (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia (2005), Oliver Twist (2005), Doom (2005) and it all only before the coming of the filming crew of Casino Royale in 2006. Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), Operation: Daybreak (1975), Das Boot (1983), Amadeus (1984), Kafka (1991), Stalingrad (1993), The adventures of young Indiana Jones TV series, Mission impossible (1996), Les Misérables (1998) were among the most recognized projects set here in the late XX century. For decades it was a home for primarily either Czech or European cinema until the 1970s witnessed a start of cooperation with the American studios. The Barrandov studios with their ninety years of filming history are now regarded as ‘The Hollywood of the East’.

By moving its production from the Pinewood studios in London, a home for 007 filmmaking since the 1960s, to the Barrandov Studios in the suburb of Prague, the creators decided to shift the whole process to continental Europe.

Such geographical priority meant not only open-air shooting but the studio sets as well. Italy dominated the final part of the Casino Royale, Bahamas played a role of a tropical paradise, while the better half of all scenes were staged in relatively accessible and moderate in expenses (at least in 2006) Czech Republic. A relatively long period of principal filming between January 31 and June 21, 2006, allowed the crew to adapt to seasons and weather freely. In actual fact and when it comes to cinematic realities, the greater proportion of the movie was filmed in the Czech Republic, Italy, and the Bahamas depicted as other locations. Hot Madagascar, the dangers of the jungles of Uganda, mannered cabinets of the British parliament, the charming Balkans in the mountain Montenegro, the palms in Miami in the United States. In the new millennium, the changing of the title actor brought no changes to a tradition. Since 1962 the feeling of freedom and involvement in the deeds of the planetary scale have been cultivated by the scenes from different parts of the world.

The series of movies about the gentleman with a license for murder in the name of Her Majesty has always electrified the imagination of the audience with the images of journeys around the world, being consequent to the literature original by Ian Flemming.

Casino royale opening scene