The 23rd film in the franchise to be shot in and around the city James Bond might well be coming to town sometime soon.

A highly-placed source informs that Bond 23, the newest film in the hugely successful franchise will be shooting in and around Mumbai.

"Director Sam Mendes recently made a hush-hush visit to the city along with production designer Terry Bamber in mid-April for the film's recce.

The movie will be shot in Mumbai and Goa during the monsoon season on a month-long schedule, " reveals our source.

The crew of the film is an excited but nervous lot. They expect the shoot to be a maddening one, given Bond's fan following here.

India Take One, who also did line production for Slumdog Millionaire, are doing the production for this film as well.

ONCE BEFORE

Octopussy (1983), the 13th film in the Bond series, was shot in Agra and Udaipur. Roger Moore played Bond in the movie which had Kabir Bedi and Vijay Amritraj in the cast.

RECENT SHOOTERS

Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises (in Jodhpur on May 6 and May 7)
Ang Lee's Life Of Pi starring Irrfan Khan and Tabu shot in Pondicherry
Brad Bird's Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol starring Tom Cruise and Anil Kapoor
Michael Winterbottom's Trishna starring Frieda Pinto shot in Rajasthan and Mumbai.