The Jamaica Observer’s story of March 17 that Jamaica was likely to be the leading location for the upcoming 25th James Bond movie is now being reported in the British press.

The story was reported a few days ago in the British tabloid, Mirror Online. Other locations will include Norway, Italy and Greece but a quote from an article in the UK’s Daily Mail online states “principal filming will take place in Jamaica and at studios in the UK”.

The story is good news for Jamaica’s film industry and local economy which stands to benefit from a film of the magnitude and popularity of James Bond being shot on the island. Motion pictures contribute to local economies through employment of locals to support filming activities, rental of production equipment, accommodation for visiting cast and film crews as well as taxation.

Jamaica was the primary shooting location for the very first Bond film entitled Dr No which was shot in Kingston and Ocho Rios. The movie starred Sean Connery who was the first actor to play Agent 007. The 1973 Bond movie Live And Let Die, starring Roger Moore as the famous spy, was also shot on the island.

Tourism interests will now be able to take advantage of another Bond movie being filmed locally. Already there are tourism attractions related to the James Bond legend such as Firefly in St Mary, the adopted home of Ian Fleming who was the writer and creator of James Bond. Fleming originally lived at another home in St Mary called Golden Eye which has since been converted into a luxury resort frequented by celebrities — and which became the title of a more recent James Bond movie in 1995.

The Jamaica Swamp Safari Village in Falmouth, Trelawny, was made famous after the filming of a scene from Live And Let Die in the 1970s, where Agent 007 makes an escape by running away on the backs of a line of crocodiles. This little bit of history has become a selling point for the attraction. Such linkages between a Bond film and tourism are possible once again with the arrival of the upcoming spy movie.

In the 2017/18 financial year a record $1.2 billion in film production expenditure was contributed to the Jamaican economy which was an impressive increase from $745 million in the previous year. This period saw 124 international film productions taking place resulting in the creation of 2,781 jobs.

The movies filmed in Jamaica during this period included Like Father‘, The Intent 2, and Yardie which was directed by the English actor, DJ and producer Idris Elba. There were additional productions in other genres.

“Documentary productions led the genres, with 35 documentaries filmed in Jamaica over the period, up from 17 in the previous year, and TV productions followed with 24, up from 15 in 2016/17,” Jamaica’s Film Commissioner Renée Robinson, was quoted as saying last year.

The arrival of the latest James Bond film initiative to the island would represent a huge boost to the recent positive trends in international film production locally. No other production filmed in Jamaica in recent years is of the magnitude of a Bond movie.

In a 2018 article from Forbes entitled “’James Bond’ By The Numbers” it was revealed that Spectre, the most recent James Bond film featuring actor Daniel Craig, grossed US$93 million. In total, the four Bond movies featuring Craig have grossed US$3,6 billion (these figures were adjusted for inflation).

Another economic benefit from a movie of the calibre of a James Bond film is product placement but whether or not local companies would be willing or able to afford the cost of such promotion is another question.

This kind of marketing involves the appearance of brands and corporate logos in the movie. Bond films, over the years, have become well known for this type of advertising. Indeed, Jamaica’s Red Stripe beer featured in two early James Bond movies, both Dr No and The Man with the Golden Gun.

Brands and products can piggyback on the movies’ massive marketing budgets and reach the huge audiences that they generate.

Part of a Bond movie’s appeal to its massive international audience is the exotic and beautiful locations to which Agent 007 travels for his dangerous spy games and adventures.

Jamaica’s tourism product, which is already expected to enjoy gross earnings of US$3.6 billion in the coming fiscal year, can only benefit from the exposure to a worldwide market that the next Bond film can generate. Tourism interests will be looking for ways to capitalise on that exposure as much as possible.

The upcoming movie is expected be the last appearance of actor Daniel Craig as James Bond.