Daniel Craig Was Barbara Broccoli's First Choice For Casino Royale

Producer Barbara Broccoli has said that Daniel Craig was her very first choice to play James Bond in Casino Royale, reports the World Entertainment News Network.

Even though there was daily speculation throughout the year leading up to the announcement of the sixth 007 actor, ‘the reality was that Michael [G. Wilson] and I wanted Daniel from the very beginning. Our only challenge was to get him to agree to do it. All the speculation was going on about all these other people for like a year or more.’

‘But the time we gave him the script to the time we announced him was three weeks,’ she says. ‘He was the only person we offered it to… All I could see every day was this extraordinary actor who was giving 150 per cent, who would train for three months and just give his all.’

Broccoli previously said of the previous reaction to Craig as Bond: ‘I’m really incredibly gratified in the reaction to Daniel, because I think he’s a spectacular actor,’ Broccoli said. ‘And I think he’s so happy that people are accepting him.’

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A 'Fragile' Le Chiffre In Casino Royale, Says Mads Mikkelsen

In an interview with the Daily Record, Mads Mikkelsen has spoken about how Le Chiffre in Casino Royale is a little bit different from previous Bond villains.

‘He’s not taking over the world,’ says Mikkelsen. ‘He’s not a mad scientist. He is something real that we can see every day. I will not name the countries, but we know them. He’s in it for the money. He’s laundering money for terrorist organisations and in many ways he doesn’t care what they do.’

‘So he’s a mirror of companies and certain countries today that benefit them all… bringing it into 2006 was the interesting part I think. Le Chiffre’s under pressure. He’s a fragile person. He’s not on top of the world. He’s actually getting desperate and because of that he’s getting more dangerous. That is a new take and I like that.’

Mikkelsen also talks about the distinguishing feature of Le Chiffre–the scar above his eye. ‘The weeping blood is a disease. It is rare, but it’s like high blood pressure in certain situations will make people start bleeding from their nose, and occasionally through their eyes, which is kind of scary.’

He explains that it worked especially well in Casino Royale‘s poker sequences between Bond and his character. ‘We liked the look of it because I was playing a lot of poker in this film and there is nothing more annoying than looking at a person that is unreadable because they only use one eye. It becomes blurry and unfocused and we really liked that detail.’

And what about the torture sequence? ‘It was specifically a tough situation for Daniel, sitting there for eight hours. So we just had to stay focused… when Daniel was done and they started filming me, he was still there giving 100 per cent, and thank God for that.’

Click here to read the entire article online.

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High Stakes Poker Marathon To Feature Casino Royale Highlights

Game Show Network’s ‘High Stakes Poker’ will be featuring Casino Royale highlights and interviews during a marathon on Monday, 13 November 2006. The full press release:

HIGH STAKES POKER Marathon Features Casino Royale Highlights and Interviews

Four Episodes Include Special Interviews and Behind the Scenes Footage From the New James Bond Movie

HIGH STAKES POKER, GSN’s exclusive cash game poker series, is scheduled for a special four show marathon on Monday, November 13 (8:00 PM – 12:00 PM ET) sponsored by Casino Royale, the upcoming James Bond film from Columbia Pictures and MGM. The marathon will include interviews with the actors as well as behind the scenes footage from Casino Royale throughout the evening.

Daniel Craig stars as “007” James Bond, 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. Martin Campbell is directing the 21st adventure in the 44-year-old franchise, from a screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis. The film will be released in theaters everywhere on November 17, 2006.

James Bond’s first “007” mission leads him to Le Chiffre (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. Bond is initially annoyed when a beautiful British Treasury official, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) is assigned to deliver his stake for the game and watch over the government’s money. But, as Bond and Vesper survive a series of lethal attacks by Le Chiffre and his henchmen, a mutual attraction develops leading them both into further danger and events that will shape Bond’s life forever.

GSN’s HIGH STAKES POKER is the only cash game of poker on television with a $100,000 minimum buy-in. Unlike other poker shows, the players on HIGH STAKES POKER often have several hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own cash at stake.

The first two seasons of HIGH STAKES POKER have featured top professionals including Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Sammy Farha, Jennifer Harman, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, and Johnny Chan, as well as top amateurs including Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

HIGH STAKES POKER airs on Monday nights at 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM ET. Gabe Kaplan and AJ Benza call the action. The all-new third season of HIGH STAKES POKER, from South Point Hotel and Casio in Las Vegas, is scheduled to premiere in January on GSN.

GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming and interactive game playing. The network features game shows, reality series, documentaries and casino games. As the industry leader in interactivity, GSN features over 133 hours per week of interactive programming, which allows viewers a chance to win prizes by playing along with GSN’s televised games via GSN.com. Now reaching more than 60 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. For further media information, visit GSN’s press website at corp.gsn.com.

Yahoo Press Release

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Martin Campbell & Caterina Murino To Attend Belgian Premiere

The Belgian premiere of Casino Royale is set to take place on Wednesday, 15 November 2006 at Kinepolis Brussels.

Director Martin Campbell and Bond girl Caterina Murino (who plays Solange in the film) are set to attend the event which begins at 19.00.

Click here to visit the official Kinepolis website.

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Casino Royale Buckingham Palace Special Event

A special event, in anticipitation of Casino Royale, is to take place on 9 November during the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Buckingham Palace…

Casino Royale / Buckingham Palace Special Event Package

In anticipation of the release of
Casino Royale, the new James Bond film, and to celebrate the 60th Anniversary year of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), The
Band of the Scots Guards will play a selection of Bond themes during the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at Buckingham Palace, on Thursday, November 9.

Columbia Pictures’ and MGM’s Casino Royale will be released in theaters on November 17.

Daniel Craig stars as “007” James Bond, 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. Martin Campbell is directing the 21st adventure in the 44-year-old franchise, from a screenplay by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis.

Press Release

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Casino Royale – Official Website Report #22

The official Casino Royale website blog has been updated by ‘Yarborough.’ Coverage this time centers on the upcoming world premiere of Casino Royale as well as what producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli think of the film.

‘It seemed like this was the great opportunity. The opportunity had been missed all the way along and we could finally make Casino Royale the way it should be,’ said Wilson.

Broccoli is equally as excited. ‘It’s quite a different film. It goes back in tone to the Dr. No, From Russia With Love films. It’s quite different from the last few films we’ve made. And so, there’s a possibility of alienating some people – the people who went maybe just for the action and the glamour, the girls and the gadgets. But we think that the audience is ready for a more gritty Bond and a more realistic Bond.’

‘I think the hardcore fans will love it,’ she says. ‘I think they’re going to welcome the idea of going back to the real essence of Bond and the classic type of Bond story which isn’t about saving the world on a huge scale. It’s a lot more personal and I think people will respond to it…’

Read the entire report here on the official James Bond website.

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Unfinished Business For Bond 22, Says Barbara Broccoli

WARNING: Possible plot spoilers

It is nothing new to see discussion on the next James Bond film, in this case Bond 22, with the newest one yet to be released. In an interview with CHUD, producer Barbara Broccoli has spoken about the directions both Casino Royale and Bond 22 are travelling in.

‘At the end of this film there’s unfinished business,’ she said. ‘It’s clear in this story that there’s someone out there. In fact there’s a line at the end of the book Casino Royale where Bond makes a decision that he’s going to take on this task, he’s going to become a warrior and try to find the hand that holds the whip. The big menace out there, the man who manipulates people and gets them to do evil things. That’s very much the spirit of the book and that’s the direction we’re going to continue on.’

Many Bond fans have wondered whether we’ll be seeing remakes of such films as From Russia With Love or Goldfinger, but Broccoli said that isn’t the plan.

‘There’s unfinished business in terms of an evil force but there’s also unfinished business internally that he has to resolve. We’re planning to go forward and resolve some of this. Quite how we do it, I don’t know at the moment. It’s a great starting point for the future journey.’

‘Although these are not political films, we like to get the atmosphere of the world situation, and terrorism is a big subject on everybody’s mind,’ she continues. ‘It’s not just the terrorism but the financing of terrorism, and that’s a big challenge for all the secret services of the world, to find the financing and track the financing. When we did Casino Royale it was easy to adapt the Le Chiffre character and make him the banker to the world’s terrorists. I think we’ll continue down that path of trying to find a relevant and more realistic story–not a political story.’

Daniel Craig can’t wait as well. ‘In June of this year, when I finished this movie, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was make another Bond movie,’ he says. ‘I now feel much more pumped up about the idea of taking this on, and it’s going to be interesting.’

Click here to read the entire interview with Barbara Broccoli on CHUD.

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Ivana Milicevic On Playing Valenka In Casino Royale

In day two of The Sun‘s ‘007 week,’ Bond girl Ivana Milicevic, who plays the villainous Valenka in Casino Royale has spoken about her role.

‘Being a Bond girl is very physically challenging. I love it. I am really excited about this film. I was really shocked for a week or two after getting the part,’ she says.

Valenka is the female bodyguard to Mads Mikkelsen’s Le Chiffre in the film, so there isn’t any bonding between her and Daniel Craig’s 007. ‘Unfortunately there is no romance between us. Daniel is awesome–not only is he gorgeous, he’s so tough.’

‘In America people don’t really know him–but when I saw a picture of Daniel I knew I wanted to work with him.’

Click here to read the entire article on The Sun.

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Daniel Craig On Casino Royale: 'Go And See The Movie'

A new interview with Daniel Craig the Daily Record. With Casino Royale being the obvious topic, he mentions ther public reaction, working with Eva Green, the hair issue, his own daughter’s reaction, and much more.

While websites and newspapers may have criticized him early on, Craig’s daughter, Ella, can’t wait for the film. ‘Ella’s proud of me being James Bond. I think she’s comfortable with it. I try to communicate all the time about it. I’m very happy with the film, but I want to protect her.’

‘I don’t bring her up in conversations much because the more I talk about her the more the Press have a right to take those photographs. I think she is eager to see the film.’

The hair color was also an issue blown out of proportion. ‘Never for one second did I think about dyeing my hair. My hair was not an issue. The only thing I thought was that we’re going to cut it short and I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to be thinking about what’s on top of my head. Hopefully now it’s not an issue. Hopefully people don’t see it now. Hopefully I’ve got other things to offer than hair colour.’

On his love scene with Bond girl Eva Green in Casino Royale, Craig said: ‘Love scenes, oh, they’re just momentous. They are usually cold studios with 15 people watching. I don’t get off on that. What else can you do, you sort of cover up and sit and drink tea. Talk about the weather.’

‘Eva just has amystery about her, and that was what was needed. She has something going on, and those are key elements in a movie.’

While Roger Moore’s Live And Let Die was the first James Bond film Craig saw, he reveals that Sean Connery’s From Russia With Love is one of his favourites, ‘particularly because it’s with Robert Shaw. He plays the bad guy, and he’s blond.’

With early reviews already comparing Craig to Connery, Casino Royale is looking to be a success. ‘If this does well, then I’ll be making money. I’d love to have the money to buy art. I don’t have an Aston Martin either, but I’d like one.’

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Discuss this ‘Casino Royale’ news in this thread on the CBn Forums. With thanks to ‘Agent Spriggan Ominae.’

Casino Royale is the 21st James Bond 007 film produced by franchise holders Eon Productions. The MGM/Columbia Pictures production began shooting in January and is due for release worldwide on 17 November 2006. Casino Royale will premiere on 14 November in London. Starring Daniel Craig as James Bond; locations include the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the UK.

The film co-stars Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino, Simon Abkarian, Tobias Menzies, Ivana Milicevic, Clemens Schick, Ludger Pistor, Claudio Santamaria, and Isaach De Bankole.

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Casino Royale's 'Heartbeat Is The Love Story'

As reported on The Scotsman, Daniel Craig has said that Casino Royale, while still a James Bond film, but with a love story that makes it a little bit different…

‘First and foremost this is a Bond movie,’ he said. ‘Every box is ticked, everything is there. We have Aston Martins, we have beautiful girls, we have great locations, we have fantastic action sequences.’

However, the thing that sets Casino Royale apart from other James Bond films is ‘a love story of depth and reality.’

I didn’t want to be in a movie where the world needs saving in the first scene and it’s saved in the last scene, and all you are doing is filling in the gaps,’ Craig said. ‘I don’t think it’s interesting unless you see character development. The real heartbeat of this movie is the love story.’

‘We have taken risks and we have changed. If you don’t change you die,’ said producer Barbara Broccoli on the changes from 2002’s Die Another Day to Craig’s debut 007 film.

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