20 Things You Didn’t Know About Casino Royale (2006)
11. Keep It Rolling
The Aston Martin DBS has a brief but memorable role in Casino Royale.
The scene in which James Bond swerves the luxury car to avoid hitting the kidnapped Vesper Lynd, who has been laid out on the road ahead of him, was adapted from Ian Fleming’s novel, alongside Bond’s wince-inducing torture at the hands of Le Chiffre and his closing remarks about Vesper.
The DBS was, however, in the final stages of development when the stunt was filmed and Aston Martin provided two cosmetically altered DB9 models instead. A DBS was available for filming in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, which doubled for Montenegro.
The crash sequence was filmed at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire standing in for the Montenegrin countryside and, to make the car barrel roll to avoid Vesper, an air cannon was installed behind the driver, Adam Kirley, aided by an 18-inch ramp built into the road.
It took three attempts and three Aston Martin DB9s (costing $300,000 each) to perfect the stunt. Fittingly, the car rolled seven times at a speed of just over 70 miles per hour, before coming to a stop; the stunt subsequently became a Guinness World Record.