25th Bond film to begin filming in April in Italy's European Capital of Culture.

Part of the new James Bond movie will be filmed in Matera, currently European Capital of Culture, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata.

Shooting for the new Bond film is scheduled to begin in Matera on 6 April, with a release date in early 2020.

Locations indentified for filming include the city's historic centre as well as its ancient sassi, the UNESCO-protected cave dwellings.

The movie, which will star Daniel Craig in the lead role for the fifth and final time, will be directed by Cary Fukunaga who takes over the reigns from outgoing Bond director Danny Boyle.

Over the years Bond movies have been filmed in numerous Italian locations including Rome, Siena and Venice as well as Lake Como and Sardinia.

Matera's distinctive landscape has featured in several international productions in the past, including Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which was partly-filmed there in 2003.