Director Marc Forster spoke with Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung recently and confirmed that shooting will begin this coming Thursday reports MI6.

In a surprisingly frank interview Forster revealed that he would have liked to have cast Bruno Ganz as the main villain, but couldn't as the French actor Mathieu Amalric had already signed on for the role.

He did confirm reports earlier this month that Gemma Arterton had landed a small Bond girl role. Even though it's not the major role (a South American Latina actress is being sought for that role), Arterton beat out 1,500 girls to land the part.

Forster says the producers have not blocked any of his ideas yet, except a couple which were not possible as they were too expensive. Locations had changed once the Paul Haggis script was locked, notably his home country of Switzerland was no longer to be a part of the production.

As for the film's tone: "When Bond began in the Connery days, travel was a luxury not everyone could afford. Today, the world has become smaller. If Bond goes to a beach with palm trees it's almost banal now. The only interesting trip remains the journey inwards, deep in to the psyche."

Amongst the first bits of filming will be a scene at the Barbican Centre in the heart of London. Other shooting will take place in the UK, Panama, Bolivia and Italy.