As for the more burning question of who will play the Bond girl, Campbell revealed the choice is now down to "two or three" but added "you'll just have to wait to find out." Eva Green and Olivia Wilde are thought to be the finalists.

New James Bond Daniel Craig, perhaps thinking of the frayed nerves caused by starting the $100 million-plus shoot without a love interest, assured that the shoot is progressing anyway: "We haven't got there so it's all fine."

True to form, one journalist from the Czech magazine Spy asked Craig what he thought of media speculation about his "orientation." After a moment, Craig responded icily, "I didn't know they had but thanks for the information."

Another local reporter got off to an interesting start by asking the assembled group, Craig, Campbell, Judi Dench and producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, if they were aware there was a previous Casino Royale.

Judi Dench, who has regularly delivered a cool, scheming M to the superspy franchise, said her work with Craig on the Prague shoot usually begins with a few jokes, "and that seems to be vital. I only started working with Daniel yesterday, but we found common ground."