James Bond 007 - Casino Royale, 2006, Daniel Craig
"Casino Royale" is a 2006 spy film. It is the 21st film in the James Bond series and the first to star Daniel Craig as MI6 agent James Bond. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, it was adapted by screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis and directed by Martin Campbell. It is the third screen adaptation of the Casino Royale novel, which was previously produced as a 1954 television episode and a 1967 satirical film. However, the 2006 film is the only official EON Productions adaptation of Fleming's novel. It is a reboot of the Bond franchise, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework not meant to precede Dr. No or any previous films. This not only frees the Bond franchise from more than forty years of continuity to maintain, but allows the film to show a less experienced and more vulnerable Bond. The film is set at the beginning of James Bond's career as Agent 007, having earned his licence to kill. After foiling a terrorist attack at Miami International Airport, Bond falls for Vesper Lynd, the treasury agent assigned to provide the money he needs to foil a high-stakes poker tournament organized by Le Chiffre.
The casting for the movie involved a widespread search for a new actor to portray James Bond, and significant controversy over Daniel Craig when he was eventually selected. Some Pierce Brosnan fans threatened to boycott the film in protest. Despite this, the film, and Daniel Craig's performance in particular, earned critical acclaim. Casino Royale was produced by EON Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, marking the first official Bond film to be co-produced by the latter studio, which had produced and originally distributed the 1967 non-canonical film version. Casino Royale is the highest grossing James Bond film to date, the 37th highest-grossing film of all time, and the 6th highest grossing film of all time in the United Kingdom.
EON Productions gained the rights for Casino Royale in 1999 after Sony Pictures Entertainment exchanged them for MGM's rights to Spider-Man. In March 2004, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade began writing a screenplay for Pierce Brosnan as Bond, aiming to bring back an Ian Fleming flavour. Director Quentin Tarantino expressed interest in directing an adaptation of Casino Royale, though this was only a personal interest, and he didn't follow this up with EON. In the June 2007 issue of GQ (UK) Tarantino confirmed his desire to make Casino Royale after Pulp Fiction. Tarantino claims to have worked behind the scenes with the Fleming family, and believes that this was the reason why filmmakers finally went ahead with Casino Royale. In February 2005, Martin Campbell, who had previously directed the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye, was announced as the film's director. Later in 2005, Sony led a consortium that purchased MGM, allowing Sony to gain distribution rights starting with this film.
EON admitted that they had relied too heavily on CGI effects in the more recent films, particularly Die Another Day, and were keen to accomplish the stunts in Casino Royale "the old fashioned way". In keeping with this drive for more realism, screenwriters Purvis, Wade, and Paul Haggis wanted the script to follow as closely as possible to the original 1953 novel, keeping Fleming's darker storyline and characterization of Bond.
Casino Royale became the first Bond film to take its title from a Fleming novel or short story since 1987's The Living Daylights. It is also the first Bond film since then not to be adapted as a novelization. Instead, a film tie-in edition of Fleming's original novel was published.
Casino Royale opened at the first position in 27 countries, with a weekend gross of $43,407,886 worldwide. As of March 30, 2007 it has grossed over $593,352,994 globally, breaking both the domestic and international box office records of Die Another Day. The film the opening weekend record in India, taking in over $3,386,987, which was the highest for a foreign language film at the time. In Russia, the film made over $4.5 million, the eighth largest opening for a non-Russian film.Wikipedia
