A new Bond is born

TRACE THE ORIGINS OF the smoothest, sexiest, most lethal agent on Her Majesty’s Secret Service in Casino Royale, the 21st James Bond adventure in the most successful franchise in film history. Starring Daniel Craig in his debut as 007, the film is based on the first Bond book written by Ian Fleming which has never been told on film until now, and recounts the making of the world’s greatest secret agent.

His first "007" mission leads him to Le Chiffre, 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 Treasury official, Vesper Lynd, 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.

Dame Judi Dench returns as M, the Head of the British Secret Service. Vesper, the first woman with whom Bond falls in love, is played by French actress Eva Green, and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen takes the role of Le Chiffre.

Director Martin Campbell says he was excited about taking the helm of "Casino Royale" because of the transformation the secret agent character undergoes. "This is Bond’s first 00 mission and he has a lot to learn. He makes mistakes early on and is reprimanded by M. He’s thinking more with his heart than with his head, and things go wrong. But by the end of the movie he’s becoming the man we know."

Producer Michael G. Wilson describes "Casino Royale" as the film that the franchise’s original producers Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman always wanted to make, but couldn’t because the rights weren’t available to them. "Finally, in 2000, we obtained the rights to make the movie, and went ahead with the script. It’s Fleming’s first 007 novel, so it’s classic Bond."

Wilson, who is Broccoli’s stepson and who has produced and/or co-written 11 Bond films, has seen the 007 series evolve over the past four decades. "In the 1970s the films got bigger and more fantastic until we reached Moonraker in 1979, which was in outer space. Then we brought it back down to earth in 1981 in For Your Eyes Only. With Die Another Day in 2002 the technology began to overwhelm the story and the characters, so we’ve come back down to earth again, with a new, rawer Bond, who we see earn his 00 status and take on his first mission for MI6."

With Casino Royale, Daniel Craig joins the elite group of actors who have donned the impeccably tailored tuxedo of the quintessential superspy.

Craig says he was honored to be asked to play the iconic agent.

"In this film James Bond is a darker character, which is how Ian Fleming originally wrote him," says the actor. "We start right at the beginning of Bond’s career, when he has a lot of rough edges. He’s a loner, and he doesn’t like to get involved with people. As the movie goes on, though, he becomes more refined."

In conducting their exhaustive search for a new lead actor, producers Broccoli and Wilson turned to a tried and true approach. "When we audition for the role of Bond, we ask actors to do the scene in From Russia with Love, where Bond meets Tatiana Romanova for the first time," says Wilson. "That scene has everything you want to know about a potential Bond–drama, romance and action."

Craig, whose previous screen credits include Munich, Road to Perdition and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, was working in Baltimore when he got the news he had landed the coveted role. "I was on my own, so I went out alone to have a drink and celebrate. Of course, I couldn’t very well start telling people in the bar ‘I’m James Bond!’"

As soon as the reality of the situation sank in, however, Craig says he was anxious to begin preparing for the role. Knowing the physical challenges he would face, the actor embarked on a rigorous fitness regime. The effort paid off as soon as production began in Modrany Studio outside Prague. The first scene he shot was the pulse-pounding chase sequence in which Bond pursues would-be bomber Mollaka through the Nambutu Embassy.

"I wanted to do as much of the action work as I could, so that the audience can see it’s me and it’s real," says Craig. "I feel like I became a sportsman of sorts, and that meant acquiring injuries and carrying on, bashing through to the next level of pain. Although Gary Powell and his stunt team did fantastic work to make sure that everything was as safe as possible, if you don’t get bruised playing Bond, you’re not doing it properly."

Casino Royale opens in theaters across the country on Nov. 15.