BOND PRODUCERS RELEASE FIRST SKYFALL IMAGE

By NBF News

Craig previously played James Bond in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace

Actor Daniel Craig is shown wielding a gun and sporting stubble in the first official image from the new James Bond film Skyfall.

According to its official website, it is taken from a scene set in Shanghai.

Sam Mendes is currently directing the film, which will see Craig play Ian Fleming's 007 for the third time.

The release of the image follows news of a fire last week at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, where the 23rd Bond movie is being filmed.

The blaze on 27 January began in a catering lorry being used to feed Skyfall's cast and crew.

According to local fire crews, it then spread to the roof of an adjacent studio building before being brought under control.

A spokesman for Pinewood Studios told the BBC filming was not taking place at the time, and the Bond production was not affected.

In 2006 a fire destroyed Pinewood's large James Bond stage, not long after filming on Casino Royale had completed.

Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and Dame Judi Dench are among the cast of Skyfall, to be released in the UK and Ireland on 26 October.

Its release comes 40 years after that of the first James Bond film, Dr No, in 1962.