Mexico City hosts the opening Day of the Dead sequence in the James Bond film Spectre.
Spectre begins with James Bond moving through a large Day of the Dead celebration before pursuing Marco Sciarra. The sequence uses the festival’s masks, costumes and public crowds to create a visually elaborate pre-title mission, eventually leading to a helicopter fight above the city.
The 2015 film was directed by Sam Mendes and starred Daniel Craig as Bond. Production filmed extensively in Mexico City, including locations around the historic center. The sequence was designed as a major action set piece and helped establish the film’s interest in Bond’s past and the re-emergence of the criminal organization SPECTRE.
Mexico City is sometimes confused with other major locations in the film, such as Rome, where Bond attends Sciarra’s funeral, or Austria, where he investigates a mountain clinic. The opening festival setting is specifically Mexico City.