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Casino Royale is the 21st James Bond film produced by EON Productions and the first to star Daniel Craig as British Secret Service agent James Bond. Based on the 1953 novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, it was adapted by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis and directed by Martin Campbell, director of the 1995 Bond film, GoldenEye.

This film marks the third screen adaptation of Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, which was previously produced as a 1954 television episode and a 1967 film spoof. However, the 2006 release will be the only official EON Productions adaptation of Fleming's novel. Casino Royale is the first official Bond film to be co-produced by Columbia Pictures, which had produced and originally distributed the 1967 non-canonical film version; this is the result of the 2005 Sony/Comcast consortium's acquisition of Bond film series rights co-owner United Artists.

Casino Royale is a reboot of the franchise in the same light as Batman Begins. After obtaining his 00-number and his licence to kill, James Bond sets out on his first mission which takes him to Madagascar to spy on a potential terrorist. Soon after, Bond is pulled into a game of high-stakes poker in Montenegro with Le Chiffre, who provides a global money-laundering service to many terrorist organisations.

The search for the new James Bond

Highlighted by a flurry of unconfirmed reports from a variety of different sources, the quest for the actor to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond attracted a great deal of high-profile media attention after rumours began to surface in the Autumn of 2004 that Pierce Brosnan would not be re-signing with EON Productions to play agent 007 in Casino Royale. Brosnan confirmed this on October 14, 2004, stating "It's absolutely over," and that he considered himself "fired" from the role. A spokesperson for EON Productions issued a statement on April 17, 2005 that it would "definitely not be Pierce Brosnan." Despite this and numerous public denials that he would return, various media continued to report that Brosnan was still in contention for the role. Throughout 2004 and 2005, an endless stream of potential new Bonds — both unknowns and established Hollywood actors — were rumoured and even announced by some media. Some of the popular names mentioned to be in actual consideration by EON Productions, a list at one point claimed by Michael G. Wilson to be over 200 names long are:
Names in bold indicate actors who confirmed that they auditioned for the role.

Of note, Eric Bana, Clive Owen, Hugh Jackman, and even Daniel Craig were at one point confirmed to have been signed or to have been offered the role by various news outlets. More than any other candidate, Clive Owen had been a staying name while the search was continuing, likely due to his previous 1999 film, Croupier and his role in BMW's short film series, The Hire where in both he played a Bond-like character. Rumours surrounding Owen intensified in early 2005 after he was awarded a Golden Globe and a BAFTA and nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his 2004 film, Closer.

By July 2005, the list of names was down to a mere four, popularly known as "the final four", according to the tabloid, The Sunday Mirror. It was claimed that the shortlist had been whittled down to Henry Cavill (22), Alex O'Lachlan (28), Ewan Stewart (47) and Goran Višnjić (32) *. The list was premature and by September 2005 during a press junket for The Legend of Zorro, Martin Campbell claimed the list to have consisted of 8-10 names.

As early as April 2005 rumours began to swirl around Layer Cake star Daniel Craig. In May, Craig stated that MGM had assured him that he had the job, but that the Broccoli family hadn't approached him. Similarly, the director of Layer Cake, Matthew Vaughn stated that he had been offered the job of directing the film by the studio, but not by the Broccolis *. By August 2005, the 37-year-old Daniel Craig was still considered by many to be in the running and by some insiders, EON Production's preferred choice. On October 11, the Daily Mail confirmed that Daniel Craig had been signed for the role; however, no official confirmation was made until October 14, 2005 during a news conference held by EON Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The conference was held at noon in London at HMS President, a Royal Naval Reserve station at St Katharine Docks, on the banks of the River Thames downstream of Tower Bridge.

Mass confusion in the media

The revelation by Martin Campbell that Casino Royale would be a reboot of the series (similar to what was done with Batman in Batman Begins), and confirmation from screenwriters Robert Wade and Paul Haggis that Bond would be roughly 28-32 years of age, aided confusion in the media. Many believed that favourites such as Clive Owen and Hugh Jackman were automatically out of the running due to their ages. However, concurrent with rumours of "younger Bonds", older actors including Pierce Brosnan were continually being named in the media as still in contention for the role. Younger actors have been approached in the past, including George Lazenby who was only 29 when he donned the tuxedo in 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Prior to Lazenby getting the part, Timothy Dalton, who later played the role in 1987 was offered the role to replace Sean Connery at the age of 24; however, Dalton didn't accept because he considered himself too young. Rumours for a younger Bond heightened with the release of SilverFin, a James Bond novel written by Charlie Higson in which Bond is a thirteen year-old boy attending Eton College; there were erroneous media reports suggesting a "Young Bond" series was planned, possibly in lieu of an adult Bond 21; 29-year-old actor Orlando Bloom was frequently linked with the part, even though the Young Bond of Higson's books is a teenager.

To a lesser extent, many other factors increased confusion in the media. Since Bond's film debut in 1962, James Bond had been portrayed as a Caucasian British male. With this search, however, there essentially wasn't any criteria as far as the media was concerned. Most notably, Colin Salmon, a black actor best known for playing Charles Robinson in three previous James Bond films was considered to be in the running and was actually endorsed by Pierce Brosnan *. Another actor, Goran Višnjić of ER fame, was claimed to be in "the final four", although Višnjić was Croatian by birth.

Daniel Craig controversy

The film generated considerable media interest when EON Productions chose to end Pierce Brosnan's tenure in the famous lead role, but did not decide upon a successor for over a year. An official announcement was made during a news conference in London on Friday October 14, 2005 introducing Daniel Craig as James Bond, a decision that was instantly controversial.

Some vocal opponents of Daniel Craig's casting as Bond have threatened to boycott Casino Royale, going so far as to setup a website urging others to boycott the film as well. The web site, craignotbond.com, called on visitors "to stop Sony and EON from ruining the future of James Bond by hiring Daniel Craig." The website features a series of Bond-related articles and reviews, as well as comparisons of all James Bond actors.

Much of the animosity towards Craig's casting refers to his blonde hair, his height and his looks. Although he is 5'11" (two inches above the US and UK height average) he is referred to as short in comparison to all of the previous James Bond actors, who are consistently reported as being between 6'1" and 6'2". The subject of his looks is often the most debated, although his having blond hair, instead of Bond's typical dark hair, is most often the first issue from negative reception. Consequently, the media has dubbed Craig as "James Blond," although it is worth noting that Roger Moore also sported a lighter sandy coloured hair throughout many of his films; however, he is not considered blond.

It should be noted in light of this boycott that there seems to be no consensus among fans. Some web polls and fan forums indicate a more positive attitude towards Daniel Craig since the release of Layer Cake on DVD and the release of Munich in theaters. Other polls show mixed feelings or opposition to Craig as Bond.

To counter craignotbond.com, a number of pro Craig websites have been created such as craigisbond.net, givecraigachance.com and CraigAsBond.com. Additionally, many actors and actresses that have either worked with Craig in past films or have been featured in previous Bond films have come out in support of Craig as a good choice for Bond. This list includes four of the previous James Bond actors: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

The search for Vesper Lynd

After Daniel Craig was announced as James Bond the media turned their attention to casting of the lead Bond girl, Vesper Lynd, exacerbated by the fact filming began without the role having been cast. Casting director Debbie McWilliams has acknowledged that Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron were "strongly considered" for the role. Tabloids reported that both turned the role down, although McWilliams never confirmed they were offered the part. McWilliams also said that Cécile De France auditioned for the role, but her English "wasn't up to scratch." Audrey Tautou was also considered, but ultimately not chosen because of her role in The Da Vinci Code that was released in May 2006 . Eva Green was finally announced as having been cast on February 16, 2006.

Likewise with the search for James Bond, many actresses were named in the media as possible contenders or going so far as to have been confirmed in the media as being signed to the role. The first occurred in January 2006 when the Daily Mail identified Rose Byrne as Vesper, claiming an official announcement would be made soon. When no announcement was made, The Sun tabloid later claimed Thandie Newton had been signed, though she later denied this. Many other actresses had been connected to the role in the media including Sienna Miller (Daniel Craig's co-star in the 2004 film Layer Cake), Naomi Watts, Rachel McAdams, Scarlett Johansson, Rachael Stirling (Diana Rigg's daughter), and Vera Farmiga.

Confirmed reports

Overview of the film

Filming for Casino Royale commenced on January 30, 2006. The film will be primarily shot at Barrandov Studios in Prague, with additional location shooting in the Czech Republic, The Bahamas, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Production will return to its traditional home of Pinewood Studios to complete the shooting schedule. The film is expected to be released on November 17, 2006 in the United States and United Kingdom; however, Sony Pictures has announced that a number of European, Middle Eastern, and East Asian countries will receive the film earlier — on November 15 and November 16. Japan, Italy, Argentina, and several other countries will not get to see the film until early 2007 *.

Casino Royale is said to take James Bond "back to his roots" in a film that would be similar to From Russia with Love where the focus was on character and plot rather than high-tech gadgets and visual effects, two issues that were most criticised in The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Additionally, EON has admitted that they relied too heavily on CGI effects and are planning to accomplish the stunts in Casino Royale "the old fashioned way." * The move towards more action, bigger special effects, and CGI in recent Bond films was in part due to a need to compete at the time with big-budget action films that dominated the 1990s box office. However, the success of less grandiose action films such as The Bourne Identity in the last few years has suggested the time may be right for the Bond series to scale back as it did during the Roger Moore era with For Your Eyes Only, which followed special effects extravaganzas such as Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me. This is an acknowledged gamble for the series, as many previous "real world" Bond films, such as On Her Majesty's Secret Service and For Your Eyes Only, as well as the last Timothy Dalton entry, Licence to Kill, although they became fan favourites, underperformed at the box office when compared to the more lavish series entries.

One major exclusion from the film will be the absence of Q and Miss Moneypenny. They were not included in the screenplay, which will make this only the second Bond film without Q and the first without Moneypenny. Thus a new Moneypenny will not be cast for this film following Samantha Bond's retirement from the role. Likewise, John Cleese will not be making a return as Q. In October 2005 producer Michael G. Wilson stated that Moneypenny's and Q's omission was due to the characters not appearing in the novel; Moneypenny, however, was in the novel and had one line of dialogue, although Major Boothroyd, which the films transformed into the character Q, did not appear until several books later *.

Reboot

Casino Royale is a reboot of the film series. It has no continuity with any of the previous films and is Bond's first mission after acquiring his double-O status in the pre-title sequence. While the film reboots Bond's continuity, it is still considered the 21st entry in the established Bond series as opposed to the beginning of a new one.

Although it is a reboot, elements of Casino Royale will take liberties with established continuity from earlier films. Examples of this include Judi Dench's reprisal of her role as M, who in the Brosnan Bond films was established as a successor to an earlier male M; however, in Casino Royale, she will be the first M by whom Bond is employed. Bond will also receive his famed Aston Martin DB5 in Casino Royale. Previously Bond first acquired a DB5 in Goldfinger. Publicity shots have also shown Bond wielding a Walther P99, a gun he first adopted in Tomorrow Never Dies, which suggests the iconic Walther PPK of previous films has been abandoned. Felix Leiter, Bond's long time CIA friend, whom Bond had previously first met (although he had heard of him) in Dr. No and had been maimed in his last appearance in Licence to Kill, will be introduced for the first time in Casino Royale. Although Leiter has been portrayed by a wide variety of Caucasian actors throughout the series, this is the first official Bond film in which he will be played by an African-American actor (Jeffrey Wright; Bernie Casey previously played Leiter in the unofficial film, Never Say Never Again).

Cast

An official announcement of many of the international members of the cast for Casino Royale, listed above, was made by MGM and Sony Pictures Entertainment on February 16, 2006 , following a press conference announcing the new Le Chiffre the day before. The remainder of the main cast was revealed upon the unveiling of the official website on May 19, 2006.

Crew

Plot

In the novel, the villain Le Chiffre goes to the casino Royale-les-Eaux in an attempt to recover SMERSH's money he lost in a bad investment. There, however, he was prevented from obtaining this goal by James Bond who beat and bankrupted him in a series of games in Chemin de Fer. Due to Le Chiffre's inability to pay back the money he had lost, he was subsequently killed by SMERSH.

Although the film deviates from time to time from the source, the plot of both are similar. In the film, the villain Le Chiffre is a treasurer for terrorists and similar to the novel has lost his client's money, although not purely because of a bad investment, but because of Bond's intervention in a terrorist plot that makes the investment go bad. Because of this, Le Chiffre goes to the Casino Royale in Montenegro where he attempts to win back the money he lost. The centerpiece card game was changed from Chemin de Fer (Baccarat) to no-limit Texas hold 'em poker *.

Being a reboot of the franchise, the film shows James Bond starting out as an agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). The director Martin Campbell states:

"In the new film, Bond is essentially starting out in his career, and has just recently become part of the double-O section. The idea is to put a bit of the dash back in Bond. By the end of the movie, the character will have been forged into the wiser, harder Bond we know."

Indeed the pre-title sequence will involve Bond undertaking a mission in which he earns his stripes in the double-O section. According to Fleming, Bond obtained his double-O number by completing two tasks. The first, an assassination of a Japanese cipher expert on the thirty-sixth floor of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City. The second, an assassination of a Norwegian who became a double agent and betrayed two British agents. In the film, Bond kills an MI6 Section Chief and his contact in Pakistan for selling secrets. The entire sequence is said to be filmed in black and white and is actually followed, untraditionally, by the gun barrel sequence and then the title sequence in which the viewer witnesses an ID badge being stamped "007."

The writers, as well as Michael G. Wilson and Martin Campbell, have confirmed that a good portion of the film (the latter half) will be a faithful adaptation of Fleming's novel including the infamous violent torture scene.

Vehicles & gadgets

Locations

Initially, Michael G. Wilson confirmed that Casino Royale would be filmed and or take place in Prague and South Africa. However, following problems for EON Productions in securing film locations in South Africa the producers had to reconsider their options. On September 13, 2005 CommanderBond.net reported that Martin Campbell (director) and Phil Meheux (director of photography) were scouting Paradise Island in the Bahamas as a possible location for the film [http://commanderbond.net/?action=Story&SID=2922. On October 6, 2005 Martin Campbell confirmed that Casino Royale would film in the Bahamas and "maybe Italy." In addition to the extensive location filming, studio work will be done at the Barrandov Studios in Prague and at Pinewood Studios in England, where the film will use several stages as well as the paddock tank and the historic Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage. Further shooting in the UK was scheduled for Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, the cricket pavilion at Eton College and the Millbrook Vehicle Proving Ground in Buckinghamshire.

After principal photography had commenced in Prague on January 30, 2006, the production moved to the Bahamas. Several locations around New Providence were used for filming during February and March, largely on Paradise Island and in the southern Coral Harbour area. The latter of these locales was used to double for scenes set in Madagascar, with an abandoned Royal Bahamian Air Force base being a particularly important location for the production.

The crew returned to the Czech Republic in April, and continued there, filming in Prague, Planá and Loket, before completing in the town of Karlovy Vary in May. A disused spa, formerly known as the Kaiserbad, in Karlovy Vary was used as the exterior of the Casino Royale, with the Grandhotel Pupp serving as the "Hotel Splendide" where Bond stays during his time in Montenegro *.

The main Italian location alluded to by Campbell is Venice, where the majority of the film's ending will be set. Other scenes in the latter half of the film were filmed in late May and early June at the Villa del Balbianello on the shores of Lake Como *. Further exterior shooting for the movie took place at properties such as the Villa la Gaeta, near the lakeside town of Menaggio.

Unconfirmed reports

Character breakdown

  • Alex Dimitrios - A government contractor in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Rwanda, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. He is also an arms dealer with ties to death squads and right wing paramilitary groups.
  • Solange - Wife of Alex Dimitrios.
  • Carlos - Terrorist whom Bond encounters in Miami, working as a henchman for Dimitrios.
  • Steven Obanno - A feared leader of the Lord's Resistance Army. In early drafts this character was known as Solari.
  • Valenka - A henchwoman from Croatia. Girlfriend and female bodyguard of Le Chiffre.
  • Mr. White - Associate of Le Chiffre, speculated to possibly recur in future Bond films à la Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
  • Mollaka - Terrorist who is chased and then killed by Bond at an embassy in Madagascar. *
  • Kratt - Henchman of Le Chiffre.
  • Leo - Henchman of Le Chiffre.
  • Dryden - Corrupt MI6 section chief based in Prague.
  • Fisher - Dryden's contact in Lahore, Pakistan.
  • Carter - Teammate of Bond on a mission in Madagascar.
  • Villiers - An aide to M. Notably, it is possible that Villiers is a replacement for M's longtime serving Chief of Staff Bill Tanner or her aide in the Pierce Brosnan films, Charles Robinson.
  • John Bliss - Poker player who is "replaced" by Bond.
  • Mendel - Banker representing the Banco de Credito Montenegro at Casino Royale.
  • Gallardo - Argentinian billionaire playing at Casino Royale.
  • Fukutu - Japanese software king playing at Casino Royale.
  • Infante - Deposed African dictator playing at Casino Royale.
  • Wolpert - Undercover American CIA agent playing at Casino Royale, probably changed to Felix Leiter in the final script.
  • Kaminofski - Russian poker player at Casino Royale.
  • Madame Wu - Older Chinese lady, poker player and associate of Le Chiffre.
  • Tomelli - Italian media mogul playing at Casino Royale.
  • Grafin Manstein - German Countess and Heiress playing at Casino Royale.
  • Gettler - Villain encountered by Bond in the Venice finale.

Theme song

Currently, it has not been announced who will be performing the theme tune for the film that traditionally plays during the opening title-sequence. One collaborator on the theme is known to be David Arnold who is composing it with an unknown artist.

Several names have been reported in the media, including Tina Turner , who previously sang "GoldenEye" for the 1995 Bond film of the same name. It has also been reported that Turner may be reuniting with "GoldenEye"-writer Bono . Other names reported include Tony Christie , American hip-hop crew The Black Eyed Peas and British girl group Girls Aloud . It was previously reported and even "confirmed" by a number of sites that the British duo Goldfrapp was writing and performing the song, however, this has been labelled as a hoax by Arnold .

It should be noted that traditionally several bands or performers submit songs to be used as the film's theme, only to have their plans fall through; for instance, Ace Of Base also performed and recorded a theme for GoldenEye later revised and released under the title "The Juvenile."

Vehicles and gadgets

Although at a news conference on October 14, 2005, the following was claimed to be merely rumour, a number of sources have claimed that an SUV/off-road vehicle will make an appearance in the film. In mid-2004 TheLandRoverChronicle.com published a story claiming that the Bond producers were interested in the Range Stormer from Land Rover On July 28, 2005 it was reported that the current Fiat Panda was going to make an appearance in Casino Royale August 3, 2005 by Fiat itself [http://www.fiat.nl/cgi-bin/pbrand.dll/FIAT_HOLLAND/news/news.jsp?contentOID=1074059502" target="_blank" >*.

DVD release

Casino Royale's release on DVD has been reportedly scheduled for May 22, 2007 and will also be accompanied by releases on UMD and Sony's new Blu-ray high-definition format .

Trivia

  • Casino Royale is the first Bond film to take its title from an Ian Fleming novel or short story since 1987's The Living Daylights and the first to be directly based on any of Fleming's writings since 1989's Licence to Kill.
  • In 2004, American Quentin Tarantino was said to have lobbied EON to let him do a "proper" film adaptation of Fleming's novel, based on a screenplay he had written that would have starred Pierce Brosnan as James Bond and Uma Thurman as Vesper Lynd. Ultimately, the company assigned the film to someone else, and Tarantino claims his pursuit ended when he learned that Brosnan would not be playing Bond. Tarantino's proposed version would have been set immediately after the death of Bond's wife Tracy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. *. However, as Tarantino does not belong to the DGA, he is unable to work with Sony or MGM/UA, so many see this as a publicity stunt on Tarantino's part.
  • According to a September 2003 article in the Daily Record, the title of Bond 21 was at one point going to be The Man with the Red Tattoo and be based upon Raymond Benson's final Bond novel from 2002. It is not known whether EON ever seriously considered this.*
  • Daniel Craig will mark the first time that 007 is portrayed by an actor under the age of 40 since 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Craig turned 38 during filming of Casino Royale. Craig is also the first Bond to be younger than the film series, having been born in 1968, between the releases of You Only Live Twice and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
  • Casino Royale will be the first Bond film since The Living Daylights not to be adapted as a novelisation. Instead a film tie-in edition of Fleming's original novel has been announced for UK publication on October 31, 2006.*
  • Tsai Chin, who played the role of Ling in You Only Live Twice (1967) plays the role of Madame Wu in Casino Royale.
  • Although the film is primarily based on the novel Casino Royale, the name of one character, Solange, was the name of a Bond girl in Ian Fleming's short story "007 in New York", which is currently included in the collection Octopussy and the Living Daylights. It is believed the name derives from that story, however, the name is also mentioned (unrelated to the girl in "007 in New York") in the short story "From a View to a Kill" which is included in the For Your Eyes Only collection.

References

External links

2006 films | James Bond films | Upcoming films

الكازينو الملكي | Casino Royale (2006) | Casino Royale (2006) | Casino Royale (2006) | Casino Royale (2006) | Casino Royale (2006) | Agente 007 - Casinò Royale | 007 カジノ・ロワイヤル | Casino Royale (2006) | Casino Royale (2006)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Casino Royale (2006 film)".

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