A HIGHLAND community has been left shaken and stirred after movie bosses said they may not shoot scenes for the new James Bond film there after all.
The final scenes of the 007 flick Skyfall were due to be filmed at Duntrune Castle in Mid Argyll next February.
But film-makers travelled to the area on Tuesday to say it was unlikely they would be going ahead with the shoot.
The news has come as a blow to local businesses, said castle owner Robin Malcolm.
“They said they have changed their plans just after the big launch in London,” he said.
“I am disappointed for all the local businesses that thought they were going to have a prosperous winter.”
The news was broken by Eon Production’s location manager, Russell Lodge.
Mr Malcolm said: “Mr Lodge didn’t know much. He felt awful. He said we should go on the assumption that it’s not coming. We had left our grass uncut to make it look like a bit of a wilderness, but today could be the last dry day for a while, so I’m getting it cut.
“It’s disappointing. It would have put Mid Argyll on the map. It was fun while it lasted.”
Decision
Skyfall, which sees the return of Daniel Craig as James Bond, is due to be filmed in locations including Scotland, Turkey and China.
A spokeswoman for Eon Productions said yesterday: “We never confirmed that we would be using Duntrune Castle.
“We have scouted various different locations throughout pre-production. We continue to look at various locations.”
However she did not rule out the possibility that the decision could be reversed.
She added: “We can’t confirm whether we are going to be filming there or not. It is still being decided. When we have an announcement to make about the location we will be sure to send out a press release.”
But on the same day the bombshell was dropped on Mr Malcolm, the film company cancelled their hotel bookings in the area for February.
Heather Leighton, manager of the Grey Gull Hotel at Ardrishaig, said: “It’s sad. We now have lots of vacancies for February, which we didn’t have before.
“It was going to be a good hype for the area, but they have obviously decided to do something else.”
Nick Ryan, owner of the Crinan Hotel, said: “February is not a very busy month so it would have been very nice, but they are in charge.
“I think there were quite a few hotels booked and the publicity would have been very good once the film came out.”
