Matera provided major Italian filming locations for the James Bond film No Time to Die.
The ancient city in southern Italy appears prominently during the film’s opening sequence, which follows James Bond and Madeleine Swann through dramatic streets, bridges, and cave dwellings. Matera is known for the Sassi districts, historic homes and churches carved into rock, and a landscape that gives the film a distinctive visual setting.
No Time to Die was released in 2021 and was Daniel Craig’s fifth and final appearance as Bond. Cary Joji Fukunaga directed the film, which also features Léa Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, and Ana de Armas.
Italy has featured in many Bond stories, so locations such as Venice and Rome can be easy to confuse with Matera. However, Matera is the specifically associated city for the film’s major opening scenes and became one of its most recognizable real-world locations.