Trivia - The World Is Not Enough

35 boats where actually used to create the action packed chase down the Thames in the pre-credit sequence.

The Thames chase took six weeks to shoot on London's waterway, plus over two months of stunt rehearsing at a top-secret location in Hampshire.

During the boat chase, Bond soaks two wheel clampers, one of these was Ray Brown who starred in a docu-soap about wheel clampers in the UK. They were actually told that they would only get "slightly wet".

When Bond watches a report about Elektra King's kidnapping, the BBC set had to be recreated just to film the sequence with real news reporter Martyn Lewis.

Producer Michael Wilson can be seen once again - he is the man who gives Elektra something to sign as she enters her private booth in Valetin's casino.

In the Scottish Headquarters castle, a portrait of Bernard Lee (M) hangs behind the current M's desk.

Ten takes of the scene between Bond and Elektra in bed could not be used due to the fact a nipple was visible.

MGM suggested Sharon Stone for the part of Elektra King, whilst Maria Grazia Cucinotta (ultimately the "Cigar Girl") auditioned for the role of the steamy villainess.

The Scottish Castle used as MI6's secret headquarters is the same castle used in "Highlander" (1986). It's called Eilean Donan Castle and is located near the Isle of Skye, West Scotland.

The ski-para hawk attack scene was inspired by the ski chase in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969). Filmmakers wanted to connect the film with the one which its title is derived from.

The sequence at Zukovsky's caviar factory, where Bond and Christmas Jones are being chased by helicopters carrying razor-sharp sawblades, was originally scripted in "GoldenEye" (1995). However, the film was running long and filmmakers dropped this action piece from the script only to revisit it two films later.

The epic boat chase scene was not originally intended to be part of the opening sequence. It was re-arranged to be part of the series' longest pre-titles sequence to date when test audiences commented that the bank break-out was not sufficient.

The Caucasus ski chase sequence was really filmed in Chamonix, France.

The film's title song "The World is Not Enough" sung by Garbage did not chart in the USA whilst in the UK it peaked at the No. #11 spot on the singles charts.

Desmond Llewelyn who had played Q since "From Russia With Love" (1963) died in a tragic car accident shortly after the film opened.

Zukovsky's car was a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook urged the real-life MI6 (SIS) to allow the production to shoot minimal exterior shots of their famous building for the opening sequence.

This was the first Bond film not released under the United Artists (UA) banner, instead it is solely distributed by the parent company MGM.

A kidnapping of the M character was a subplot of the James Bond novel "Colonel Sun" written by Kingsley Amis but it was director Michael Apted that suggested this sub-plot be added to "The World Is Not Enough".

New Zealand Rugby player Jonah Lomu was originally asked to play Gabor, but he declined.

In early drafts of the script, the character that became Christmas Jones was an insurance investigator. This was changed to avoid confusion with Brosnan's female foil in "The Thomas Crown Affair".

Much of Robbie Coltrane's lines as Zukovsky in "The World Is Not Enough" are actually derived from cut scenes from the "GoldenEye" script - the film in which he made his Bond debut.

On its opening weekend, "The World Is Not Enough" competed with "Sleepy Hollow", however both survived the fierce competition, each collecting over $30m.

According to director Michael Apted, none of the cast set foot in Istanbul after a terrorist attack made shooting on location unwise. Maiden's Tower peer was quickly recreated at Pinewood for the shoot.

When shooting overseas, "The World Is Not Enough" went by the pseudonym "Destiny" in order to not be a target for press, fans and (as feared in the case of Turkey) terror attacks.

The plot was inspired by Daniel Yergin's book and the documentary series: "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power" after Barbara Broccoli saw some of this on a plane flight across the Atlantic.

On release, "The World Is Not Enough" quickly became the highest grossing Bond film of all time. It was trumped by "Die Another Day" (2002) and, in turn, "Casino Royale" (2006).

Denise Richards was "awarded" a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress.

The EON Productions team returned to their long-term home of Pinewood studios for the first time since 1987 and "The Living Daylights".

"Only Myself to Blame" sung by Scott Walker was dropped from the closing credits in favour of a remixed James Bond Theme.