CASINO ROYALE Official Press Release (Cast Announcements)

[AndyDursin]

...and he's not exactly a household name. Then again, seems like they're going the "unknown" route with this entire cast. Who would've thought Judi Dench would be the most familiar name?

Inflate the balloons, fling the streamers around and toot on your whistles, the producers of the Bond series have finally made a decision.

Mads Mikkelsen ("King Arthur"), will be the villain of “Casino Royale”.

According to Variety, the Danish actor has won the much coveted role of the evil Le Chiffre in the film.

In the film, Le Chiffre, who’s a member of a new terror organization backed by a fictitious country, will be using money won at gambling to fund terrorism.
http://www.moviehole.net/news/20060215_ ... _casi.html

[Eric W.]

...and he's not exactly a household name. Then again, seems like they're going the "unknown" route with this entire cast. Who would've thought Judi Dench would be the most familiar name?

Inflate the balloons, fling the streamers around and toot on your whistles, the producers of the Bond series have finally made a decision.

Mads Mikkelsen ("King Arthur"), will be the villain of “Casino Royale”.

According to Variety, the Danish actor has won the much coveted role of the evil Le Chiffre in the film.

In the film, Le Chiffre, who’s a member of a new terror organization backed by a fictitious country, will be using money won at gambling to fund terrorism.
http://www.moviehole.net/news/20060215_ ... _casi.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0586568/

It could work.

I think it's good that they're not just shooting to cast a bunch of well known "superstars."

[AndyDursin]

...and he's not exactly a household name. Then again, seems like they're going the "unknown" route with this entire cast. Who would've thought Judi Dench would be the most familiar name?

Inflate the balloons, fling the streamers around and toot on your whistles, the producers of the Bond series have finally made a decision.

Mads Mikkelsen ("King Arthur"), will be the villain of “Casino Royale”.

According to Variety, the Danish actor has won the much coveted role of the evil Le Chiffre in the film.

In the film, Le Chiffre, who’s a member of a new terror organization backed by a fictitious country, will be using money won at gambling to fund terrorism.
http://www.moviehole.net/news/20060215_ ... _casi.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0586568/

It could work.

I think it's good that they're not just shooting to cast a bunch of well known "superstars."

It is a risk, to some degree, because people at least knew who Brosnan was. Having a virtual unknown in the lead, girl, and villain roles is really making you rely on the 007 brand name to sell it...I'm not saying you cast superstars, but one person with some familiarity in one of those parts is a safer bet than going across the board with performers nobody has ever heard of. Then again, I assume they'll be saving money that way.

I just thought they might have cast somewhat of a "name" actor as one of the three leads to help off-set selling a new 007...doesn't look like they're going that way, however.

[Carlson2005]

It is a risk, to some degree, because people at least knew who Brosnan was. Having a virtual unknown in the lead, girl, and villain roles is really making you rely on the 007 brand name to sell it...I'm not saying you cast superstars, but one person with some familiarity in one of those parts is a safer bet than going across the board with performers nobody has ever heard of. Then again, I assume they'll be saving money that way.

I just thought they might have cast somewhat of a "name" actor as one of the three leads to help off-set selling a new 007...doesn't look like they're going that way, however.

They never have. Bond villains have never been major stars - at best they're known actors who haven't troubled the box-office top ten in years or foreign talent who are big in a couple of territories in Europe. People forget it today, but there was a lot of bad press about Brosnan - then reduced to TV commercials and cable movies - fronting a big-budget movie on GoldenEye with only the likes of Sean Bean and Gottfried John and a couple of unknown European actresses to back him up.

[AndyDursin]

It is a risk, to some degree, because people at least knew who Brosnan was. Having a virtual unknown in the lead, girl, and villain roles is really making you rely on the 007 brand name to sell it...I'm not saying you cast superstars, but one person with some familiarity in one of those parts is a safer bet than going across the board with performers nobody has ever heard of. Then again, I assume they'll be saving money that way.

I just thought they might have cast somewhat of a "name" actor as one of the three leads to help off-set selling a new 007...doesn't look like they're going that way, however.

They never have. Bond villains have never been major stars - at best they're known actors who haven't troubled the box-office top ten in years or foreign talent who are big in a couple of territories in Europe. People forget it today, but there was a lot of bad press about Brosnan - then reduced to TV commercials and cable movies - fronting a big-budget movie on GoldenEye with only the likes of Sean Bean and Gottfried John and a couple of unknown European actresses to back him up.

True. I wasn't intending to suggest "major" stars, just a semi-recognizable face. I know Aldolfo Celi was not exactly a household name either, but have they gone through this before with all 3 major roles comprised of completely obscure leads? This guy they cast as the villain isn't exactly Donald Pleasence or Telly Savalas, and we know about Craig and the female names they've been throwing about for the lead...there may have been a lot of negative press about Brosnan, but audiences here were at least very familiar with him when GOLDENEYE opened.

I'm just saying it's curious -- they go from casting leads like Sophie Mareau, Michelle Yeoh, Teri Hatcher, Halle Berry, Jonathan Pryce, Robert Carysle, etc. on the last few films (not "major stars" but known commodities, if you will) and making buckets of money to downscaling quite a bit and casting relative unknowns in all the major parts. Hey, provided it's a good, solid Bond movie without the loud, bombastic qualities of the Brosnan era, I'm all for it I just find it somewhat surprising they didn't have one of those "known commodities" in the bad guy or female lead parts, that's all.

[Carlson2005]

I'm just saying it's curious -- they go from casting leads like Sophie Mareau, Michelle Yeoh, Teri Hatcher, Halle Berry, Jonathan Pryce, Robert Carysle, etc. on the last few films (not "major stars" but known commodities, if you will) and making buckets of money to downscaling quite a bit and casting relative unknowns in all the major parts.

The problem was that the films were taking huge amounts of money, but the budgets had got so high and the marketing costs so excessive that the last Bond film is the least profitable ever made theatrically. When Brosnan was throwing his hissy fit over CR and demanding a package worth $42.5m, which would have driven the budget to around the $160m mark (DAD was around $142m), it pretty much drove home the point that if they carried on along those lines, they'd end up losing money theatrically and be dependent on the shrinking DVD and TV market for a profit - hence the move to a lower budget (though $100m is hardly low) and talent whose agents aren't going to make absurd demands. Personally, I think it's a good thing.

[AndyDursin]

All true, Trevor, but I still hold this is the most obscure Bond cast I can recall being assembled. Check out the last paragraph announcing the cast -- sounds like something being shown late at night on the Independent Film Channel...not that it's bad, either, I agree, but it's still interesting. Certainly the budget will be way, way down on that end of things (let's hope that doesn't clear the way for them to go overboard on the FX like the last few outings).

Eva Green is the girl and Jeffrey Wright the new Felix Leiter...check it out:

EVA GREEN, MADS MIKKELSEN AND JEFFREY WRIGHT JOIN CAST OF CASINO ROYALE

(Culver City, February 16, 2006) -- It was announced today by producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc, and Sony Pictures Entertainment that EVA GREEN has been cast to play the enticing Vesper Lynd opposite Daniel Craig in his debut appearance as James Bond in the highly anticipated 007 adventure thriller, CASINO ROYALE.

It was also announced that renowned Danish-born actor MADS MIKKELSEN has accepted the role of Le Chiffre, Bond's nemesis in the film and JEFFREY WRIGHT has joined the cast as Felix Leiter.

CASINO ROYALE reunites Wilson and Broccoli with Martin Campbell, who directed the 1995 blockbuster GOLDENEYE, and will be the 21st James Bond film produced by the franchise holders, EON Productions. The MGM/Columbia Pictures production began shooting in January this year and will be released worldwide on November 17. It will be filmed on location in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the UK.

Wilson and Broccoli said, "We are thrilled that Eva and Mads have joined the cast of CASINO ROYALE completing a first rate international cast. They bring exceptional talent to the characters Ian Fleming described so vividly in his first James Bond novel.

After an extensive search we have found the perfect actress. Eva is one of France's most accomplished young actresses, now receiving international acclaim. She brings to the complex role of Vesper an exciting combination of enigmatic and seductive beauty.

Likewise Mads has such a compelling onscreen presence and his riveting performances in Open Hearts and Adam's Apples convinced both us and director Martin Campbell that he was ideal for the role of Le Chiffre."

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade wrote the screenplay based on author Ian Fleming's first novel. Additional writing was contributed by Academy Award-nominated writer, Paul Haggis (Crash/ Million Dollar Baby).

"Vesper is a pivotal role in Casino Royale and it takes much more than beauty to make this role work," said Amy Pascal, Chairman of the Columbia Pictures Motion Picture Group. "When you think about the great James Bond adventures, of course you think about action and espionage, but you need to have palpable sexual tension in the movie and in casting Vesper, we really needed to up the ante, because this character is very much an equal to Bond and central to our story. We believe Eva as Vesper, Mads as Le Chiffre and Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter are perfect additions to our cast and we couldn't be more excited about the way this project has come together."

Described by Bernardo Bertolucci as "so beautiful it's indecent," Eva Green is one of the most intriguing actresses today. Born in Paris, France, she made her debut in Bertolucci's critically acclaimed The Dreamers. Green then starred opposite Kristin Scott Thomas and Romain Duris in Jean-Paul Salome's French-language film, Arsene Lupin. In 2005 she made her Hollywood debut, starring as the female lead in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven with Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson.

Mads Mikkelsen made his American debut opposite Clive Owen and Keira Knightley in Disney's King Arthur, directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Mikkelsen has won many Scandinavian awards for his work on screen and television. He is best known for his starring role in Susanne Bier's Open Hearts for which he was nominated for "Best Actor" for the Robert (Danish Academy Award) and Bodil (Danish Film Critics' Award) in 2003.

Mikkelsen has recently appeared in Anders Thomas Jensen's Adam's Apples, Susanne Bier's After The Wedding and the Swedish thriller Exit, directed by Peter Lindmark, due for release later this year.

The acclaimed stage actor, Wright, who first came to film audiences' attention as the doomed artist Jean Michel Basquiat in Basquiat, has subsequently garnered critical acclaim in his Emmy-winning performance in HBO's miniseries "Angels in America," and in such films as Shaft, Ali, The Manchurian Candidate, Broken Flowers, Syriana and HBO's recent "Lackawanna Blues." He will soon be seen in Lady in the Water and The Visiting.

The producers are delighted that the cast is rounded out by talented international actors in feature roles, including; Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis, Caterina Murino as Solonge, Simon Abkarian as Dimitrios, Tobias Menzies as Villiers, Ivana Milicevic as Valenka, Clemens Schik as Kratt, Ludger Pistor as Mendel, and Claudio Santamaria as Carlos.

[mkaroly]

I am very excited about this- I don't know what to expect from these actors/actresses I'm unfamiliar with. I think it's a risky move but ultimately a good one. The risk is, of course, that it sucks so bad that the Bond francise dies with this film. On the other hand, this might be an inspired move that will lead to a solid film. I'm hoping that this film will have the same effect that OHMSS had on me when I first saw it.

[Jedbu]

Let us not forget that DR. NO's most famous actor was that great, great actor Joseph Wiseman (seen most recently in Law & Order, as, surprisingly, an elderly man that looks like a stiff breeze could knock over). No, I am NOT forgetting that Ursula Un-er-Andress was in it-I did say actor, not vision of lust and desire .

Personally, as long as they have an actor who can fit into the lead, actually appears to take part in some stunts (hear me, Sir Roger?), and tries to keep the rib ticklers to an minimum (I personally thought that the tagline from THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH ["I thought Christmas comes but once a year"] was the absolute depth), I'll be happy. Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing bad-ass Bond from LICENCE TO KILL show up again-there were glimmers of him in DIE ANOTHER DAY, until Madonna showed up. . .

[AndyDursin]

FWIW.....
------------------------------------------------

EXCLUSIVE: THE NAME'S BOND.. BROKE BOND
daniel craig
BIFF! 007 Craig loses two front teeth in first fight scene BASH! The baddie who whacked him was only a henchman
By Grant Hodgson
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_o ... _page.html

NEW James Bond Daniel Craig has already failed to make the grade as a tough guy - after a villain knocked out two of his teeth in his FIRST fight scene.

Craig, 37, was in Prague filming the remake of Casino Royale when the stunt went wrong.

As the shaken star staggered backwards clutching his bleeding mouth, cameramen thought it was a brilliant piece of acting.

But they quickly realised the new 007 was really hurt. His injuries were so bad local dentistry experts could not treat him. So Craig's dentist was flown out from London for emergency surgery in the Czech capital Prague.

Dentist Rod McNeil, based in London's Cavendish Square, fixed caps to his broken teeth then flew back to Britain.

The actor has now been given six gumshields and told to wear them while filming stunt scenes for the £60million movie at Prague's Barrandov Studios.

[Carlson2005]

NEW James Bond Daniel Craig has already failed to make the grade as a tough guy - after a villain knocked out two of his teeth in his FIRST fight scene.

I hardly think it makes him a wimp. Firstly, it's a movie, not a real fight and the intention isn't to deviate from the script. But more importantly, Craig went on filming. Nor are injuries in fight scenes exactly uncommon - ask Jackie Chan (I guess he'd also make the list as a 'failed tough guy'). Compare that to Brosnan taking two weeks off during the shooting of DAD for a minor injury getting out of a boat that just happened to coincide with a two-week period he'd asked to take off for 'prersonal reasons,' only for the producers to veto it. Or that unfortunate incident when he bumped into a camera on TND and needed stitches in his lip...

They'd just better keep that take in the finished film!