By Patrick Day, Todd Martens and Rebecca Snavely, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
Pity poor James Bond. After decades of slow decline in the franchise's prestige, the character got a burst of newfound respect with the last film, "Casino Royale." Now expectations are high for the follow-up, "Quantum of Solace," due at the end of this year. But already the headaches are mounting for 007, and not the kind cooked up by the screenwriters.
While filming around Italy's Lake Garda, a stunt driver accidentally drove one of the Aston Martins used in the film into the lake. Then another stunt man driving an Alfa Romeo in a chase scene crashed the car and was sent to critical care.
Then last week, a British technician working on the film was found stabbed by a steak knife in the home of a woman he'd just met in Austria.
All the mishaps are spawning talk of a "James Bond curse." But it wouldn't be the only big production to undergo more than its share of disaster. The crew members of "Solace" escaped with their lives. Others haven't been so lucky.
