Casino Royale Opens #1 In US On Friday

CBn had previously reported that both Casino Royale, the 21st official James Bond 007 film, and Happy Feet would be in a close race for the #1 US box-office spot on Friday.

Box Office Mojo has reported with the Friday estimates and Casino Royale appears to have beaten its competition.

Opening on 3,434 screens, Casino Royale took in an estimated $14.7 million dollars on Friday, while Happy Feet, opening on 3,804 screens, took in an estimated $11.7 million.

CBn will be continually updated with Casino Royale box office details as they become available.

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Casino Royale – French Premiere Photos

CBn had previously revealed that the French Casino Royale premiere was set to take place at the Le Grand Rex cinema in Paris on Friday, 17 November.

JamesBond-fr.com reports with pictures from the grand event, where much of the Casino Royale cast and crew were present, including: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Caterina Murino, Sebastien Foucan, Martin Campbell, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli.

Click here to view pictures from the Casino Royale French premiere.

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Casino Royale Magnificent Carta Mundi Promotional Event

Written by Kevin Collette

Bond aficionados will remember that Carta Mundi was already an official Die Another Day licensee. This time around though, the Belgian company went a step further, creating and designing the official Poker and casino chips used by Bond against Le Chiffre in the Montenegro Casino sequence.

My Belgian TV crew and myself arrived a little earlier–for security reasons, the casino insisted on checking personally each I.D’s of the guests, but we had been warned by the efficient Carta Mundi P.R and were put straight on a ‘safe list’.

Although a very ‘hush hush’ event–where we were promised indeed to see large extracts of the movie, various animations around Casino Tables amidst scantily-clad dressed Casino female assistants, and official presentation of the Casino Royale products–I managed to be one of the very few foreign TV journalists invited to attend the selected event–thanks to the adorable Carta Mundi P.R and staff.

You can view the TV report that appeared on the VTM channel by following [this link](http://www.vtm.be/asx/vtmnieuws/vtmnieuws13uur_Do.asx). Scan forward to the 30th minute of the News Program of Thursday, November the 9th.

After being asked for our own I.D cards (and given back a permanent nominative Casino Credit card-type Pass in return), the guests were ushered on to the first floor, toward the private screening room. Decorated with laser-created Bond silhouettes, very Maurice Binder’esque, on the walls, the room itself looking like a Ken Adams creation–complete with CASINO ROYALE labelled Director’s chairs for the audience to sit on (and… leave WITH. The first gift from Carta Mundi to its Journalist audience) was quickly filled with guests and journalists alike.

Two persons then introduced themselves, both high ranked Carta Mundi executives. they then proceeded on explaining the complex relationship between official Licensees and Production companies (Carta Mundi has also some Harry Potter, Yu-Gi-Yo and various Warner cartoon characters licenses so far).

They explained they were positively delighted when discovering the script of ‘Bond 21’–which was to feature real trilling scenes set at Poker tables in a Casino… a dream come true…

The Carta Mundi people then explained that they provided Eon with more than a thousands Poker playing cards (and proposed Eon with literally tons of different designs for the main set Card decks).

Followed a basic Q&A session–mostly from people totally unaware of the Bond universe I may add…

And then we were treated with the screening of the complete trailer of Casino Royale, with the news DTS sound system–needless to say, the audience was… speechless.

Having myself already seen last week the movie at the Paris one and only Press screening, I had fun looking at the flabbergasted faces of my international colleagues.

We were then invited to a drink, prior to the (gargantuan) buffet lunch. And which drink but a… Vesper cocktail of course! (Word of warning there: the Vesper is a bit traitorous. After two or three, you start to see Smersh agents everywhere!).

Having brought some ‘accessories’ with me (a vintage Fleming dust jacket designed original 1953 hard cover edition of CASINO ROYALE, a fake PPK, etc, etc) we proceeded to shoot tons of pics for various magazines in the deserted Casino. We had the whole Casino just for ourselves and it was a bit weird to walk between one-armed bandits and Poker or Baccarat tables unoccupied.

I had unfortunately another pressing engagement to attend to in a distant Belgium City, so had to leave earlier than expected.

A last unsuspected surprise was waiting for me at the exit: Carta Mundi offered each of its guest a Deluxe Casino Royale chips and deck cards box–artistically decorated with the film logo.

A nice touch for one of the best Promotional events I ever attended in my career.

All thumbs up for the Belgian flawless organisation.

Daniel Kleinman On Designing Casino Royale's Main Title Sequence

One of the highlights of every James Bond film is the often visually stunning main title sequence. In a recent interview featured on Digit mag, Daniel Kleinman explains why he went for a new design for Casino Royale which specified no girls, but instead a harder-edged approach.

Kleinman, who also designed the titles for Die Another Day, The World Is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies, and GoldenEye and follows the work of Maurice Binder and Robert Brownjohn said: ‘the titles have been a defining element of the Bond films for decades. And a defining feature of the titles has been the girls. Given the spirit of this new film, that simply no longer felt appropriate. In addition, the script sees Bond falling in love, so even on a sub-textual level, having a parade of anonymous beauties wasn’t the way to go.’

‘I wanted to simplify the look, give it a harder feel than the hi-tech ultra-glam with which the titles have become identified,’ he continues. ‘Graphic design seemed a good way to go in this direction.’

Director Martin Campbell commented on a possible card motif for the sequence and Kleinman ‘took that and ran with it as far as possible. One starting point was Ian Fleming’s own design for the first edition of Casino Royale, which used the hearts from a playing card. I also remember that a puff of gun smoke stylised into the form of a club symbol came to me early, and I sketched that.’

Working alongside Kleinman was William Bartlett, head of inferno at Framestore CFC Commercials, who said: ‘The previous film, Die Another Day, was almost the apotheosis of the old style. We’d taken it pretty much as far as it would go–the glossiness, the focus pulls, the fiery transitions–and I was delighted to be taking a new approach. Danny took the essences of the casino world–playing cards, roulette wheels, and the patterns on money itself–as his lead design elements.’

‘We wanted to include fight sequences as part of the visuals, but we didn’t want to wander into censorship territory with the violence,’ continues Bartlett. ‘By using an animation-like technique–rotoscoping–over real footage of fights, we could create something that looked fantastic, but which also acted as a cushion or protective layer to the violence. Another reason we liked this so much was that we realised that you could have really quite crude–almost abstract–shapes that, because the movement was so real, were still intelligible.’

While some Bond fans may miss the girls from Casino Royale‘s main title sequence, Kleinman hinted in a similar interview with the LA Times that they would be returning, saying: ‘By the end of this [film], 007 is more like the Bond we all know and love. So I think those dancing girls may well come back again.’

Stay tuned to CBn for all the latest Casino Royale coverage.

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Move From Brosnan To Craig Necessary, Says Wilson

The LA Daily News features a new article where producer Michael G. Wilson and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell comment on how the new James Bond film just could not have worked with Pierce Brosnan in the role…

‘Pierce was very successful in the way he portrayed it, no doubt about it,’ says producer Michael G. Wilson. ‘But you couldn’t make Casino Royale with Pierce, based upon him making four before. It was difficult for us to come to that conclusion on a personal level with him. It was strictly a decision about the direction that we had to take the series to keep it alive in the future.’

‘He always wanted a little more character, perhaps a grittier, tougher Bond,’ says Martin Campbell, who also directed Brosnan’s first 007 adventure: GoldenEye. ‘And of course, the irony is that it went to Daniel Craig, who immediately made it his own. But I did talk to Pierce about two weeks ago, and I must say he was incredibly relaxed. Whatever problems, if he had them, about not getting it seemed to be long past. He was very gracious toward Daniel. He hadn’t seen the new film, by the way.’

Click here to read the entire article.

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Daniel Craig: Making Casino Royale 'Classical'

***Warning***: Possible plot spoilers.

In an interview on BBC World Daniel Craig spoke to Tom Brook about playing James Bond, making Casino Royale classical, and more…

‘I haven’t self consciously gone into this to try and update it,’ says Craig of Casino Royale. ‘I wanted to make it classical.’

‘I wouldn’t have gotten involved with this if I couldn’t have found something in this movie that appeals to me emotionally,’ explains Craig.

‘Yes, it is on a grand scale, and I couldn’t be that hypocritical–I love huge movies, I’ve always loved them. As long as something in that movie has a key element of truth in it then it’s going to be a hugely entertaining thing. I think that’s what I aim to do with this. The simple answer is I had to take on this challenge. I would regret this for the rest of my life unless I’d had a go at it.’

When asked how Casino Royale reflects a change in times, Craig answered: ‘The confusion really is who the bad guys are. What’s interesting about the Casino Royale book is you set up this character Le Chiffre, this Machiavellian figure who’s in it for himself. In fact we still have the same character and the enemy is unknown.’

Casino Royale is ‘not political or religious based, there’s no suicide bomber. There’s nobody with religious fervor in this movie. What there is, in fact, is someone who’s trying to de-stabilize the world and take control and they don’t care who they hurt. It’s fantasy and Bond is trying to find the head of that organization and try and stop it. He’s in the fantasy world he’s the secret agent who knows all the answers. Maybe it’s an ‘out there’ fantasy, but I’m trying to put some reality into it.’

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James Bond Vs. Penguins For #1 At US Box Office

With the US release of Casino Royale set for tomorrow, James Bond may be facing some fierce competition–from penguins.

Daniel Craig’s debut film as 007 will be opening on the same day as Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet and which one of the two will end up as the opening day box office winner is unclear.

As reported on Deadline Hollywood Daily, the run times and theatre counts may be the ultimate deciding factor–in which case, Happy Feet has an edge in both.

Happy Feet is set to open in 3,804 theatres, while Casino Royale will open at 3,434. The other obvious factor is the amount of daily showings. At 1 hour and 38 minutes, Happy Feet is likely to be shown more often each day compared to Casino Royale, which runs at 2 hours and 24 minutes, the longest James Bond film yet.

Still, anything can always happen. Both films will play to different audiences and just maybe Casino Royale will have that extra draw in factor. We will all know soon enough…

What are your predictions for Casino Royale’s US box office? Will it be #1? Add your thoughts here on the CBn Forums..

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Casino Royale Sets A Record UK Opening For Bond Series

If the opening day box-office numbers for Casino Royale in the UK are anything to go by, the newest James Bond 007 film looks quite promising.

As reported on Deadline Hollywood Daily, Casino Royale marks the biggest ever UK opening for a Bond film, taking in an estimated £1.7 million, 67% of the day’s total box office.

The previous record holder in the 007 series was 2002’s Die Another Day, which took in £1.1 million.

Casino Royale opens in the US tomorrow.

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Casino Royale Conquers China's Censors

CBn previously reported that the release Casino Royale might have become the next victim of a Hollywood “blackout” in China, which typically occur two to three times per year.

However, Variety reports that the 21st official James Bond film has finally conquered the Chinese censors and is set for release on 30 January 2007.

With Casino Royale to become the first time James Bond will be seen in Chinese cinemas, the approval is a huge success for Sony.

‘We are extremely pleased that the film has passed and expect it to be one of the highest-grossing films next year in China,’ said Li Chow, Sony Pictures’ general manager in China.

Stay tuned to CBn for all the latest Casino Royale coverage.

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Casino Royale's James Bond: From Iconic To Human

***Warning***: Major plot spoilers

JoBlo features a new interview with Casino Royale‘s director Martin Campbell. He speaks on going back to James Bond after a break since 1995’s GoldenEye, dealing with the censors, Daniel Craig as 007, Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd, and much more…

When asked how it felt to return to the Bond series with Casino Royale, Campbell explained: ‘Because it was a book, it felt good. They did offer me another one after GoldenEye but I just didn’t want to repeat myself. It was just another submarine pen but because this was a book, I thought this character was much more interesting perhaps in the book than it becomes in the movie. His liver is in bad shape and he smokes, which Fleming smoked by the way and it finally killed him.’

The way Bond interacts with Solange is very different compared to the relationship he strikes with Vesper Lynd a little later on. ‘The first girl represents the way in which Bond sees women, which is to use them. He’s got to seduce them, have sex with them to get the information that he needs,’ says Campbell.

‘After that when he meets Vesper Lynd, which is virtually like in the book, she is very much his intellectual equal and he falls in love with her. And it’s a very serious relationship. When she finally commits suicide the emotional shutters slam back down. So Vesper Lynd became the most important relationship in his life.’

‘The roughest scenes were the poker scenes,’ answers Campbell when asked what Casino Royale‘s biggest shooting challenge was. ‘They were very difficult because of the ten people all looking at each other across the table. You have to cover everything from the chips going down to close up of cards, to everyone’s reaction. Every time you yell cut, every chip has to go back to square one and mark where you have to pick the game up from.’

CBn earlier reported that minor edits to Casino Royale had to be made because of the torture sequence. Campbell explains: ‘For the British sensors I had to take one cut out in the torture scene, where he puts the rope over his shoulders. They thought it was a little too sexual but the violence they didn’t cut. Now in America, no problem with the torture scene which I was amazed about and I had to reduce the violence and strangling and get to the death quicker. I found that very ironic and I think it proves that nobody really knows anything.’

In conclusion, when asked what aspect of Casino Royale will surprise viewers more than any other, Campbell said: ‘That he is human. I think that all the previous Bond’s, he’s iconic, you can predict what he’s going to do, you know there are going to be action scenes, you know the puns that are going to come in, you know he’s going to get the women, you know that you’re not going to take it more seriously. I think the character is a much more developed character.’

Click here to read the entire JoBlo interview with Martin Campbell on Casino Royale.

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