James Bond stage rebuild begins

The fire caused the roof to collapse

Work has begun on a new James Bond stage at Pinewood Studios after a fire destroyed the previous one in July.

Planning permission has been approved and the stage will be completed in early 2007, Pinewood executives said in a statement.

The replacement will be the same size as the previous one but modern building techniques mean there will be more usable space inside.

No-one was hurt in the Buckinghamshire fire. The cause is still unknown.

The stage had to be destroyed after the fire caused the roof to cave in, damaging the set that had been used for the forthcoming James Bond film, Casino Royale.

History repeating

Filming of the movie, which comes out in November, had already been completed.

Casino Royale is the first Bond film to star Daniel Craig in the title role, replacing Pierce Brosnan.

It is the second time the stage, originally built for the 1977 Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, has been destroyed by fire.

The stage was previously rebuilt following a fire in 1984 that left six people needing treatment for burns, smoke inhalation and shock.

Several James Bond films, Mission: Impossible, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Tomb Raider movies were among those that had also used its facilities.

The building also housed the Fortress of Solitude set used in the first two Superman films and the replica of the Louvre gallery seen in The Da Vinci Code.