Motorcycles duel atop Grand Bazaar for 'James Bond' scene

ISTANBUL

Dangerous motorcycle scenes were successfully staged by two stuntmen on the roof of the Grand Bazaar without incident.

Shooting for the new James Bond film “Skyfall,” directed by Sam Mendes and starring Daniel Craig, continued this week with the filming of one of the movie’s most important action scenes atop Istanbul’s iconic Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı).

Risking life and limb, two stuntmen climbed to the roof of the Grand Bazaar for the scene on April 17, riding motorcycles across the top of the large market while shop owners in the bazaar watched them through windows.

The dangerous scenes, for which 400 people worked, were successfully staged without incident.
On the first day of Istanbul filming over the weekend, a 400-year-old wooden building on Aynacılar Street in the Grand Bazaar was damaged when motorcycles that were passing in front of a jewelry shop missed the corner and hit the structure.

The shop window and the marble of the structure were broken during the accident and its columns also suffered damage. The owner of the jewelry shop, Mete Boybeyi, called the police following the incident.

The shop provides the jewelry used in the popular Turkish TV series “Muhteşem Yüzyıl” (The Magnificent Century).

Others also claimed that the production team had damaged tiles at the bazaar, but the rumors were denied by Grand Bazaar Artisans Association Executive Board member Faruk Bektaş, who said the tiles had already been damaged in the last restoration in 1983.

“The film team removed the tiles across a 100-square-meter area for the shooting and replaced them with plastic ones brought from the United Kingdom. They also supported the plastic tiles with silicone materials so as not to damage the roof. The Istanbul Municipality, Culture Ministry and the Governor’s Office inspect the shooting all the time,” said Bektaş, adding that Grand Bazaar artisans had not complained about the shooting.

Shooting for “Skyfall” moved to Istanbul this week after wrapping up in the southern province of Adana.