20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
3. It’s The Biggest. It’s The Best. It’s Bond. And Beyond.
1976 saw a heatwave-induced drought gripping the UK. Despite this, the new Bond film required a soundstage with a large water tank to house three nuclear submarines and represent the interior of The Liparus.
Double-0 Seven’s spiritual home of Pinewood Studios did not have such a stage and the impact of the drought led the filmmakers to look at venues in Europe instead, but none of them were large enough. Cubby Broccoli and Ken Adam determined that the only solution was to build their own soundstage.
Adam developed the stage as a temporary structure at Pinewood Studios so that it could remain in situ for as long as it was needed after filming was complete. The 007 Stage - as it was christened - was built over a natural spring from which it could draw a quota of water each year, overcoming the complications presented by the drought; the set of The Liparus was constructed at the same time.
The soundstage cost $1.65 million to build, whilst Eon Productions paid for the construction of a tank inside it that was capable of holding 5.5 million litres (1.2 million gallons) of water.
The 007 Stage was opened by former Prime Minister, Harold Wilson on 5 December 1976 and, although it has gone through several iterations since then and is now known as the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, it remains a popular filming venue to this day.