"Texas Hold 'Em"
They are still poker chips, but they are sometimes called "plaques" to specify them.
Over the years, some fans have come up with the idea that there is no one "James Bond," that it's merely a code name assigned to a series of agents, as a way of explaining why Bond never seems to age and has continued for nearly half a century. Some have even claimed that this is an idea from the novels. However, there is not in the novels at all, which are about an agent whose real name is James Bond. It is never explicitly stated or even implied in the films that "James Bond" is a code name, and there is little to nothing in the films to indicate the code name idea is valid. Many point to the opening scene of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" where George Lazenby as Bond says, as a girl runs away from him, "This never happened to the other fellow," but that was intended as a one-off joke to the audience about how it was a new actor in the role. (At any rate, the movie later has a scene where Bond reminisces about his former missions, something he couldn't do if he was a different person with a new code name.) Over the series, there are many scenes where Bond runs into old friends who recognize him as Bond, and in Skyfall we see the graves of Bond's parents, Andrew and Monique Bond. Bond is a single agent inhabiting a floating timeline, where he remains at one age while the world moves around him. As for Casino Royale, it is very much a reboot creating a new continuity, and is not about someone assigned a code name.
Newly promoted to 00 status, MI6 agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) discovers a plan masterminded by Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a known private banker to the world's terrorists, to short sell stock in Skyfleet, an about-to-be-unveiled prototype of the world's largest airliner, and then blow up the plane. When Bond stops the plane from being blown up and subsequently learns that Le Chiffre is planning to use his ill-gotten windfall in a high-stakes poker tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro, M (Judi Dench) arranges for Bond to play. Bond quickly finds that the stakes are not only for money but for his life.
Yes. In fact, Casino Royale (1953) was the very first book by British author Ian Fleming (1908-1964)to feature the MI6 secret agent James Bond. It is the 21st film in the Bond series and the first to star Daniel Craig as Bond. Fleming's novel was adapted for the screen by writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis.
"Casino Royale" is the name chosen by author Fleming when he wrote the novel. "Royale" is a French word, which translates to "royal", "majestic", "kingly" or "regal" in English. The title could conceivably translate to the "Royal Casino", the "King's Casino", or even "Casino Majestic". However, since the French word "casino" is masculine, this phrase would correctly be spelled "casino royal". A better explanation is that the original story takes place in a fictional French town called Royale-les-Eaux. A place name in French is feminine and would deserve the "e" at the end of "royale". Consequently, "casino royale" shouldn't be translated as "royal casino" but as a "casino in the town of Royale."
No, the spoof was very loosely based on the same source material by Ian Fleming, but this film is more in-line with other early Bond movies such as Dr. No (1962) or From Russia with Love (1963) and is far from a spoofing venture.
The film isn't a prequel in the traditional sense, as it is not set in the time period before Dr. No; it is very much set in the present. However, it is a prequel in respect to Bond's life, as it depicts his career before the events of Dr. No, in fact Casino Royale is his first assignment as 007. Although there is no official line from Sony Pictures, it could be described as a "reboot" of the film series. Over the years MGM/UA has filmed all of the James Bond books—but not in chronological order. Therefore it is hard to make a real timeline. Even though MGM/UA wanted to begin with Casino Royale, it was impossible since they couldn't get the filming rights from the company that did the American TV-movie in the 1950s. Otherwise, Casino Royale would have been the first James Bond instead of Dr. No.
The film is set in July 2006 (as noted on various cell phones and computer screens within the film).
The movie opens in Prague (Czech Republic) in a flashback that shows Bond making his second kill, the event that earned him his 00 status. (Though it isn't specified in the film, Bond's mission right before Prague, where he made is first kill, took him to Pakistan.) On his next mission, 007 travels to Madagascar in search of the financier of a circle of terrorist groups. He kills an international bomb-maker seeking refuge at the Nambutu embassy and seizes his cellphone, discovering a number of calls from Ellipsis. Unfortunately, his escapade is photographed and printed in the newspapers, much to the fury of M. Bond briefly returns to London, steals into M's private residence and uses her personal equipment to determine that the calls from Ellipsis originated from The Ocean Club in the Bahamas. After being berated by M, Bond flies to Nassau and determines the identity of Ellipsis to be that of Alex Dimitrios (Simon Abkarian) who, Bond learns by hacking into MI6's secure website using M's password, is an associate of Le Chiffre. Bond further learns, while seducing Dimitros' wife Solange (Caterina Murino), that her husband is on his way to Miami, so Bond follows him. He kills Dimitrios and foils Le Chiffre's attempt to destroy the Skyfleet airliner. M enters Bond into a high-stakes poker tournament set up by Le Chiffre at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. After a rocky beginning, Bond wins the tournament. Following an attempt on Bond's life, he and Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) then head off to Venice, Italy where she turns Bond's winnings over to Le Chiffre's organization. Finally, Bond tracks down Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) in his villa on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy.
Who knows why the producers chose Montenegro? One possible explanation is that the former Yugoslav states once had a rather shady reputation regarding their banking systems. However, most of them cleaned up their act in the 1990s. Another possible reason is that it's cheaper to shoot in Eastern Europe than it is in France. While it's possible that Montenegro was chosen because it's cheap and extremely beautiful (one only has to look at the town where filming was done to see why they would want to film in such a scenic setting), the Montenegro scenes were actually shot in the Czech Republic. Montenegro is part of the Balkan peninsula, situated conveniently between "East" and "West" and was a favored meeting place for Cold War spies of the Ian Fleming era.
Look at the region formerly known as Yugoslavia; Montenegro is one of the former states and is now known as the Republic of Montenegro, formerly united with Serbia. And yes, it is a real place.
Because this is a reboot of the story, separate from the past Bonds, so it doesn't matter if Bond has a female boss. Let's just say that, when Bond meets M in this time line, it is different from Brosnan's Bond meeting her in GoldenEye (1995). The producers likely decided to keep her on because they were satisfied/impressed with her earlier work as the character. Director Martin Campbell is on record saying that they planned to recast the part, but it just wouldn't have been right to not have Judy Dench back.
Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) is in the film because Bond first met him in Casino Royale (the novel). While it is true that, in the film series, Bond first meets Leiter (played by Jack Lord) in Dr. No; in the book series, Leiter had already been on several missions with Bond, going as far as losing an arm and a leg in the novel Live and Let Die (1954), which was depicted in the film Licence to Kill (1989).
No, for this reboot it was decided that James Bond would only use gadgets that are realistic and not something that looks 10 years ahead of its time or gadgets that are impossible to make. In other words, he uses the latest technology in cellphones, computers, and spyware. Aside from a compact defibrillator and a small tracking device put in his arm, Bond doesn't have much in the way of gadgetry.
According to the producers, Craig was their only choice for the new Bond. It is believed, however, that Hugh Jackman was offered the part, but turned it down. Rumours that Clive Owen was offered the part were vigorously denied both by Owen and EON. Dougray Scott had met with producers, according to an interview with BBC's Jonathan Ross, but it's not certain that he was offered the part. Henry Cavill, James Purefoy, Julian McMahon, and Goran Visnjic were all screen tested (with English actress Camilla Power playing the Bond girl). Apparently, all four only found out they had lost the part when Daniel Craig's press conference took place. The rumour mill also churned out Colin Salmon as the first black Bond; he appeared in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002) as the character Charles Robinson.
Including Casino Royale, Craig has made five movies in which he plays James Bond: Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), and Spectre (2015). No Time to Die (2021). No Time To Die is officially Craig's last time playing Bond.
Le Chiffre originally worked for a Soviet assassination bureau called SMERSH. Since this film is not set during the Cold War (which ended in the late 1980s, early 1990s), he was changed to a terrorist financier. Bond's card game of choice, and the game featured in the novel, was Baccarat. In the twenty-first century, Texas Hold 'Em has replaced Baccarat as the popular game played in casinos, so the story was changed accordingly. The first 55 minutes are totally new, but the motivation behind them are true to the spirit of the book: LeChiffre invests a lot of money which does not belong to him, loses it, then sets up a high-stakes card game to try to win it back. The novel presents this as background information in a dossier. The novel begins (more or less) with Bond's arrival at Casino Royale. From this point, the film follows the book very closely, while adding in several new action scenes (stairwell fight, falling building). The poisoning scene is also new, but is loosely based on an attempt on Bond's life in the book. The torture scene, Bond's falling in love with Vesper, and her subsequent betrayal are all straight out of the book, the last line of which is "The bitch is dead now".
No. A crown did become loose during the shoot, though. Director Martin Campbell explains, No, his teeth didn't get knocked out. What happened was that one of his caps came loose while we were filming in Prague. A local dentist came to the set, put a bit of glue on it, and that was that. The whole thing took 10 minutes.
Yes, he holds a UK Driving Licence. "That story about the stick shift was ludicrous," adds Barbara Broccoli, who produces the Bond films with half brother Michael G. Wilson. "Everybody drives a stick in England. You have to be able to in order to get an unrestricted licence over there."
No. While it is true that Daniel Craig did get a sunburn, it was also true that practically everyone else on the shoot did too. Craig did not get heat rash, and the production wasn't stopped for any length of time.
Powered by Alexa
- How long is Casino Royale?2 hours and 24 minutes
- When was Casino Royale released?November 17, 2006
- What is the IMDb rating of Casino Royale?8 out of 10
- Who stars in Casino Royale?
- Who wrote Casino Royale?
- Who directed Casino Royale?
- Who was the composer for Casino Royale?
- Who was the producer of Casino Royale?
- Who was the executive producer of Casino Royale?
- Who was the cinematographer for Casino Royale?
- Who was the editor of Casino Royale?
- Who are the characters in Casino Royale?James Bond, Vesper Lynd, Le Chiffre, M, Felix Leiter, René Mathis, Solange, Alexander Dimitrios, Steven Obanno, Mr. White, and others
- What is the plot of Casino Royale?After earning a licence to kill, secret agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007. Bond must defeat a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, in Montenegro.
- What was the budget for Casino Royale?$150 million
- How much did Casino Royale earn at the worldwide box office?$617 million
- How much did Casino Royale earn at the US box office?$167 million
- What is Casino Royale rated?PG-13
- What genre is Casino Royale?Action, Adventure, and Thriller
- How many awards has Casino Royale won?28 awards
- How many awards has Casino Royale been nominated for?72 nominations
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content