The Bond rumour mill clicked into a higher gear this week, after a producer behind the 64-year-old film franchise suggested that a brand new actor may soon take possession of the coveted codename 007.
‘I would say the end of the year is a good bet’, producer Amy Pascal told Deadline in a new interview.
It’s been five long years since Daniel Craig made No Time To Die his secret agent swansong, with cameras on the next movie – currently being referred to as ‘Bond 26’ – expected to start whirring in 2027.
Who’s in the running? Wuthering Heights and Saltburn star Jacob Elordi could become the first Aussie Bond since George Lazenby in 1969, while Dua Lipa‘s new husband Callum Turner is also a hot favourite to don the intelligence officer’s famous tuxedo.
One way to whet your appetite for the next film ahead of the new pretender to the 007 throne being announced? Take the short hop to visit the world’s only official James Bond museum.
Daniel Craig in 2015 film Spectre… as a new era for the film franchise beckons – a new 007 is expected to be announced within months, it’s a great time to visit the world’s coolest Bond attraction
Perfectly chilled: 007 Elements sits above the Austrian Tyrol resort of Sölden and takes visitors on a journey through the film franchise’s most thrilling moments, with gadgets and guns galore on display
Opened in 2018 but still off the radar for many cinema fans, 007 Elements, teetering above the Austrian mountain resort of Sölden – 75 minutes’ drive from Innsbruck airport – inhabits the real-life location for one of the most thrilling Bond chase scenes in the franchise.
Carved into the Gaislachkogl mountain, a dizzying 3,050m (10,000ft) above sea level, the 1,300-square-metre concrete attraction looks so authentically Bond, it feels like you’ve been handed a one-way ticket to a villain’s lair with a stunning panoramic view.
Its 007 credentials really stack up too; EON Productions and MGM were behind the attraction’s design, collaborating with the local cable car company and Austrian architect Johann Obermoser to bring the vision to life.
Even at summer’s height, the temperature inside the attraction is icy cold, with small groups journeying through nine rooms, including interactive galleries, over two floors.
There are guns, gadgets and even the twin-engined Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander plane that Craig’s Bond thundered around this very mountain on, plus plenty of visual montages showing all the slickest moments and best baddies – from Oddjob to Jaws – from the films.
The finale of the experience plays the six-minute chase that features in Spectre, directed by Sir Sam Mendes, in all its full HD glory. Daniel Craig’s Bond flies above the snowline in pursuit of a trio of Land Rovers, one of which is carrying his love interest, Dr Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux).
Ice Q, a futuristic-looking gourmet restaurant at the top of the Gaislachkogl mountain, opened in 2013 and caught the eye of the Bond franchise’s location scouts
A thrilling chase in Spectre saw Daniel Craig’s 007 negotiating the Ötztal Alps in a twin-engined Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander as he pursued criminal gangs
Left: A Land Rover used in the film on display. Right: The original twin-engined plane now features in the Action Hall of 007 Elements
How did the world’s coolest Bond museum get planted on the side of an Austrian mountain?
Location scouts clapped eyes on the restaurant Ice Q, a futuristic cube of glass-and-steel that had opened in the high-altitude setting in 2013 – and thought the snow-cloaked peaks and roads around the Gaislachkogl would be a perfect backdrop.
The uber contemporary lunch spot offers unfettered views of the surrounding Ötztal Alps, and was always going to prosper in such a rare setting – but the glamorous billboards promoting 007 Elements in Sölden below ensure a steady stream of film fans finish their Bond adventure with fine dining and a fine view.
Even the roomy, matte-black cable cars that glide you up the mountain – and also enjoyed a cameo in Spectre – have a Hollywood feel about them.
Right in the heart of Solden, the luxury Das Central hotel has been run by the same family for more than 50 years
The hotel hangs onto its Tyrolean heritage but has moved with times… with swing chairs overlooking the pool
Sölden, known for its glacier skiing, has long been one of Austria’s most popular winter resorts.
In summer though, there’s just as much high-octane activity on offer: it’s a lush green adventure playground that still swerves the July and August weather spikes that much of Europe now endures.
After that lunch at Ice Q, there’s a multitude of ways to get back down the mountain and many of them require the kind of sang-froid that Bond himself is famous for.
Carting from the middle of the mountain – or you can sledge it in winter – sees everyone from kamikaze kids to grandparents hurtling 7.3km back down the valley.
The go-karts aren’t motorised; the speed comes from freewheeling, with drivers negotiating hairpin gravel bends simply with handlebar brakes.
Mid-way down, helmeted mountain bikers feed into the same track and it becomes what feels like a high-velocity Wacky Races.
Area 47, a short drive from Sölden, is a 95,000-square-metre alpine space with 40 different activities that’s seventh heaven for summer adrenaline junkies
Adrenaline fires much of the summer activity programme in what locals sometimes call ‘Bond Valley’, with the mysterious-sounding Area 47 leading the charge on other alpine adventures.
Around 40 minutes from Sölden, the largest adventure park in Austria is a 95,000-square-metre alpine space where you can try your hand at no less than 40 sports, including canyoning, bungee jumping and wakeboarding.
Das Central, a family-run hotel in the heart of the village, has been hosting summer and winter guests for five decades since 1969.
Central by name, central by nature, it’s just ten minutes from the cable cars and, with rooms from around £324-a-night, a relative steal for this standard of modern luxury.
The property celebrates its Tyrolean heritage and has the odd nod to Venice too, with a Lagoon City fresco behind the indoor pool.
It’s a hotel that hasn’t stood still though; the decor feels right up-to-date, with trendy black Crittall-style doors in some of the rooms and comfy swing chairs with a view in the wellness area.
Guests can shower off the dust and dirt from the day in five-star Das Central’s world-class spa, with a beautiful outdoor infinity pool looking out across the village and an extensive list of treatments, many inspired by local nature, promising to tease those tired muscles back into life.
The vast majority of guests – possibly exhausted from the day’s adventures – choose to stay half-board, so all that’s required is padding downstairs to the chic but relaxed main restaurant for elegant, inventive and surprisingly light five-course dinners that are a world away from the stodgy fare you might expect in an Austrian mountain resort.
If the owner and current manager, Angelika Falkner, is around, she diligently chats with every table in the main restaurant – not something you’d get at any chain hotel anywhere.
If your cup hasn’t quite runneth over with exhilarating experiences, head a few miles south out of Sölden and one of Europe’s most spectacular drives lies before you too.
An indentation in the mountain known as the Timmelsjoch is a tourist attraction in its own right and will eventually weave and wind you into the South Tyrol and beyond into Italy on some of the country’s most scenic switchbacks.
Just don’t drive like you-know-who if you do it.
