Casino Royale Opens #1 In 27 Countries

The box office success for Casino Royale continues according to Deadline Hollywood Daily, where the newest James Bond film was #1 in all 27 countries where it opened, with the possible exception of the US (details later in this article).

Taking in an overall $82.8 million worldwide over the weekend, Casino Royale was the 9th biggest all time UK opening as well as the biggest ever opening in the UK for a James Bond film. It beat the previous record holder, 2002’s Die Another Day, by 46%.

The real debate, however, lies around the US box office. CBn had previously revealed that Casino Royale would be going head to head with Warner Bros’ Happy Feet over the weekend. According to the weekend estimates, Happy Feet won the battle with $42.3 million while Casino Royale took in $40.6. million. Take note that these are both weekend estimates and many experts are calling it a ‘photo finish.’ Tomorrow will most likely provide the exact numbers for both films in the US.

Whether or not Casino Royale won the US box office over the weekend, it has performed very impressive on the whole:

Casino Royale – Box Office Details

• UK Opening Day (16 Nov): £1.7 million
• US Opening Day (17 Nov): $14.7 million
• US Opening Weekend: $40.6 million (estimate)
• Worldwide: $82.8 million (as of 19 Nov; contains portion of US estimate)

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Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name' Now On iTunes

Bond fans are reporting on the CBn Forums that Chris Cornell’s ‘You Know My Name,’ the title song for Casino Royale is now available as a single on iTunes.

Additionally, fans who have heard the single from iTunes are claiming it is not the same version as heard in the film, but instead the radio version.

Order the Casino Royale soundtrack from Amazon.co.uk

Order the Casino Royale soundtrack from Amazon.com

Interview with David Arnold – Scoring Casino Royale

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You Never Really Know Vesper, Says Eva Green

An interview with Casino Royale‘s Eva Green has appeared online at the Sydney Morning Herald, where she speaks about her role in the film…

Bringing ‘an exciting combination of enigmatic and seductive beauty’ to the role of Vesper Lynd, according to producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, Green said of her character: ‘She has an air of mystery about her, which is essential for the role. There’s something about Eva that’s quite, I don’t know, gothic. You never really know her.’

‘The women in the early Bond films were very provocative, sexually forward, almost revolutionary–they were pilots and scientists and doctors at a time when a lot of the sexual politics meant [women were at home],’ said Green. ‘In the ’70s and ’80s, unfortunately, the women were less important characters, except for a few exceptions, like Diana Rigg’ of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.’

On Casino Royale co-star Daniel Craig, Green had nothing but compliments. ‘I knew him from Munich, and he was magnetic, beautiful.’ When complimented on the chemistry between the Vesper and Bond characters in the film, she says: ‘Oh, thank you. We didn’t have much time to rehearse because I was coming in at the last minute.’

Casino Royale opens in Australia on 7 December and premieres three days earlier on the 4th.

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Eva Green Reveals Possible Bond 22 'Baddie' Details

***WARNING: Plot spoilers***

In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Bond girl Eva Green spoke about her role as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale and also revealed some details regarding a possible villain in Bond 22, due out in November 2008…

‘You do a lot of photo shoots, and it’s based on the beauty thing, and it’s like, ”Oh, the sexy Bond girl! Whoa!” It’s really annoying, but I can’t really complain. I just hope people enjoy my performances,’ replied Green when asked about her stunning looks.

When asked about how she handled her powerful scene near the end of Casino Royale, Green explained: ‘It’s like a choreography. [Vesper] loves him, but she has to express it without saying anything. It was quite emotional.’

‘I think it’s too confusing,’ says Green in regards to the mysteries of Vesper’s motivations in the film. ‘But they’re going to do a second [movie] where you’ll understand what’s going on in her mind. It was really hard, and Barbara Broccoli helped me understand. You would think, wait a minute, she had an Algerian boyfriend, and she’s been sent on this mission, and then she begins to feel guilty. She’s in love with Bond. It’s a deep love. The Algerian boyfriend was something light, an affair. So there’s an internal conflict. The plan is, the Algerian boyfriend is going to be the baddie in the second Bond, and we’ll understand [better]. But you don’t have to think about it too much.’

Only two more years of waiting to find out…

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Melissa Lackersteen On Transforming Bond Girls With Make-Up

While there has been non-stop news and interviews with director Martin Campbell and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli regarding Casino Royale over the past few weeks, This Is Local London reports on one crew member who is very important in setting a style in the film: Melissa Lackersteen.

Lackersteen, who worked as a make-up artist on Casino Royale, traveled with the production from Prague to the Czech Republic, Italy and the Bahamas, and worked specifically with Bond girls Eva Green, Caterina Murino, and Ivana Milcevic. Her previous experience with the James Bond series includes 2002’s Die Another Day.

‘Eva Green has really proved herself as an actress in this movie,’ said Lackersteen. ‘She also has very strong opinions on her look and likes strong make-up and deep-red lips. But she looks lovely natural too. I gave Caterina an Arabesque-style look. She looks amazing in the beach scene, with her bright green bikini on dark skin. Blonde, Ivana is a contrast to the others. She is very like a model and her face loves make-up.’

Working on Casino Royale, she said: ‘I had discussions with the actresses about what make-up they would like, because I wanted them to feel happy, but also gave my views as I had read the script.’

‘I love doing make-up because I enjoy seeing people’s transformation and bringing out the best in them.’

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Daniel Craig: 'I'm Very Happy That They've Liked The Movie'

With Casino Royale breaking a UK box office record for James Bond films, opening #1 in the US, and hitting the right notes for many critics, Daniel Craig’s debut film as 007 seems to be a hit.

A BBC video report from the premiere of the film can be viewed online at jamesbond-fr.com where Craig and Dame Judi Dench speak about the release of the film.

‘I’m very happy with the reponse, I’m very happy that [the fans] liked the movie. That’s what we set out to do; we set out to make a good movie,’ said Craig.

‘They all feel different, because they’re all different scripts, says Dame Judi. ‘So you just try and be as truthful and true to the scene as you believe it is and as Martin Campbell tells you it is.’

Several celebrities were at the grand event, including Sir Elton John, who said: ‘I’ve never seen a Bond film at a premiere before, so I’m coming here to support Daniel Craig, who is a friend and a really great actor, and I think there’s so much interest in this film because of him and it being so different to the other Bonds. I think he’s going to be really successful.’

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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.

Neal Purvis And Robert Wade Discuss Casino Royale And Bond 22

The BBC News features an interview with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who wrote the scripts for the three most recent James Bond films, including Casino Royale.

‘Personally I really like the books: I came to them from the movies. The films have this wonderful swoop to them but the books have more texture. That’s to do with Bond being this hard-living, dark creature in the middle of all that’s going on,’ said Wade when asked if it was possible to go back to Ian Fleming’s James Bond for each new 007 actor.

‘But it’s true that over the years the film character has developed into something quite different to Fleming’s character,’ adds Purvis. ‘Though there’s often been talk of going back to basics with Bond and making him more ‘Flemingian’ this was the best opportunity ever because we’re starting again with the first novel … we tried to be as faithful to the novel as possible and keep it fairly dark.’

On actor Daniel Craig, Wade said: ‘When you have an actor you play to his strengths–and in Daniel Craig you’ve got a fantastic actor. Pierce Brosnan had wonderful comic timing–a kind of suavity which you have to celebrate when you’ve got it. With Daniel we don’t want him wearing safari suits. He’s got this great toughness to him but not an unthinking toughness. I think that’s where the films will need to go.’

Both Wade and Purvis have also been connected with the script for Bond 22, starring Daniel Craig once again, and due out in November 2008.

‘In the next film the emphasis has to be on the unfinished emotional business at the end of Casino Royale,’ says Wade. ‘It has to be dealt with in such a way that his character continues to have an arc.’

‘It can’t just be he’s tough and he’s tempered steel and totally impervious. There are things he still has to resolve. So that’s the legacy of Casino Royale and it’s important to have it so the actor has something to play.’

Click here to read the entire interview.

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