If reports are to be believed at least some parts of the next movie in the Bond franchise will be shot in the Helmand province in Afghanistan.

According to online reports on James Bond fansites, the official, a member of the Foreign Office’s drug task force in the country has signed on as a consultant for the franchise.

The official, who has since left the Foreign Office and Afghanistan, is thought to have signed a confidentiality agreement with the filmmakers preventing any discussion of the project, The Times reported.

Should 007 tackle the opium fields of the country, it will be the second time he has ventured into Afghanistan. In the 1987 film The Living Daylights, Bond, played by Timothy Dalton, was imprisoned in a Russian camp in the country, before teaming up with anti-Soviet freedom fighters.

Eon Productions, the production company set up by Bond producer Albert Broccoli, refused to comment on whether the film would visit Afghanistan.

The 23rd Bond film will be Daniel Craig’s third outing as the fictional British spy, following the success of ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Quantum of Solace’.

The plot of the new Bond film, expected to be released in 2011, is a closely guarded secret.

[Source]