Cerro Paranal, Chile

Cerro Paranal, in the Atacama desert in Chile, home of the ESO (European Southern Observatory) Very Large Telescope, has been chosen as one of the settings for the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace (2008).

The location features as a Hotel Perla de las Dunas, the location where Dimonic Greene and General Medrano meet to finalise the coup. Bond infiltrates the hotel, kills the Chief of Police and confronts Greene. The hotel is destroyed during the ensuing struggle; Camille kills Medrano, avenging the murders of her parents and sister, and Bond captures Greene. After interrogating him about Quantum, Bond leaves Greene stranded in the middle of the Atacama desert with only a can of motor oil.

The ESO Hotel at Cerro Paranal (or Residencia) is the accommodation for Paranal Observatory in Chile since 2002. It is mainly used for the ESO scientists and engineers who work there on a roster system. It has been called a "boarding house on Mars", because the desert surroundings are Mars-like, and an "Oasis for astronomers". It is not a commercial hotel, and the public cannot book rooms.

The Bond production was attracted by the special location and the exceptional architecture of the award-winning Paranal Residencia, a true oasis in the desert. In addition to the shootings at the Residencia, further action took place at the Paranal airstrip.

The film crew present on Paranal includes Daniel Craig, French actor Mathieu Amalric, leading lady Olga Kurylenko, from the Ukraine, as well as acclaimed Mexican actors, Joaquin Cosio and Jesus Ochoa. This cast from across Europe and Latin America mirrors the international staff that works for ESO at Paranal.

Watch the video 'Bond at Paranal', featuring the QoS cast:

In the video above, Daniel Craig wears Tom Ford 108 sunglasses.

Afterwards, when the crew moved to Bregenz, Austria to film the Opera scene of Quantum of Solace, many crew and cast members, including Daniel Craig, were spotted wearing baseball caps with the ESO (European Southers Observatory) logo on it, see image on the left.

Visits to the site are organised on the last 2 week-ends of every month, and are free to attend. Interested persons need to register in advance.

Trivia
The site of ESO’s Paranal Observatory, home of the world’s most advanced optical instrument, the Very Large Telescope (VLT), was one of the selected locations for an ad campaign entitled “Perfect Places”, launched worldwide in January 2012 by the British car maker Land Rover. The campaign presents Land Rover vehicles shot in unique places around the globe. James Bond used a Range Rover in Quantum of Solace, making this image very appropriate for Bond fans (see top image on this page).