The James Bond phenomenon gets a new lease of life – in the form of the new Bond, Daniel Craig – in director Martin Campbell’s Casino Royale, for which composer David Arnold returns with an exciting original score. Exclusively to iTunes, Sony Classical will release Arnold’s entire score for Casino Royale – including the content of the CD release plus 13 additional minutes – making it the most comprehensive Bond film score recording ever offered. This deluxe edition of the complete score for Casino Royale will be available for download beginning Tuesday, November 14 – three days prior to the film’s nationwide opening on Friday, November 17.
This latest installment of the James Bond film series stars Daniel Craig as “007”, the smoothest, sexiest, most lethal agent on Her Majesty’s Secret Service in Casino Royale. Based on the first Bond book written by Ian Fleming, the story recounts the making of the world’s greatest secret agent.
The film finds Bond face to face with Le Chiffre (played by Mads Mikkelsen), banker to the world’s terrorists. In order to stop him, and bring down the terrorist network, Bond must beat Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale. At first annoyed by the beautiful British Treasury official Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), who is assigned to deliver his stake for the game and watch over the government’s money, Bond soon feels a connection. The attraction becomes mutual as the two survive a series of lethal attacks by Le Chiffre, leading them into further danger and events that will shape Bond’s life forever.
Reinforcing the highly charged, action packed plot of the movie is the original music from David Arnold, the award-winning composer and arranger who previously scored three Bond adventures – Die Another Day, The World is Not Enough and Tomorrow Never Dies. Selected by long-time James Bond composer John Barry as his successor in the Bond soundtracks franchise, Arnold made his debut with Tomorrow Never Dies, the second James Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan. This score garnered high praise across the board, solidifying his stint as the current Bond composer.
Arnold’s ties with Bond run deep. He was seven years old when he realized he wanted to compose music for film. It was at the Luton British Legionnaire club that Arnold saw his first James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice, which the composer says “tainted him for life” and was the “substantial event for him that just got him hooked.”
In 1996, Arnold worked on a tribute “cover” album of his favorite James Bond themes, entitled “Shaken and Stirred.” Collaborating with a diverse range of acts that included Martin Fry, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Propellerheads and Iggy Pop, Arnold blended contemporary pop with orchestral sounds to create a successful album. One of the album’s tracks – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – broke out as a successful dance hit, and two were others released as chart singles. Arnold sent his work to MGM and got a response that changed his life. The studio was so impressed that they offered him the opportunity to score Tomorrow Never Dies, his first foray into the Bond franchise. By this time, Arnold’s career in film music was flourishing, and he was in demand with both film studios and television companies to create original themes and scores.
Arnold’s other film scores include The Stepford Wives, Enough, Changing Lanes, Zoolander, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Stargate.
Directed by Martin Campbell. Screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis. Based on the novel by Ian Fleming. Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. Executive Producers Anthony Waye Callum McDougall. Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen with Jeffrey Wright and Judi Dench.
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