Casino Royale (2006 film)

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This article is about the 2006 film. For other uses, see Casino Royale.

Casino Royale
Casino Royale film poster
James Bond	Daniel Craig
Directed by	Martin Campbell
Produced by	Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson
Written by	Ian Fleming
Screenplay	Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis
Music by	David Arnold
Main theme
Composer	David Arnold Chris Cornell
Performer	Chris Cornell
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Entertainment (theatrical) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Video & TV sales)
Released	November 17, 2006
Running time	144 min (cut).[1]
Budget	£72,000,000/$130,000,000
Worldwide gross	over $375,530,909
Admissions (world)	over 57 million
Preceded by	Die Another Day
Followed by	Bond 22
IMDb profile

Casino Royale is the 21st James Bond film produced by EON Productions and the first to star Daniel Craig as British Secret Service agent James Bond. Based on the 1953 novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, it was adapted by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis and directed by Martin Campbell, director of the 1995 Bond film, GoldenEye. The film, and Daniel Craig's performance in particular, quickly earned critical acclaim.

Casino Royale is a reboot of the series. The events in the film are not designed to precede Dr. No or any other Bond films, as in a prequel; instead, they establish a new timeline and narrative framework. This film marks the third screen adaptation of Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, which was previously produced as a 1954 television episode and a 1967 film spoof. However, the 2006 release is the only official EON Productions adaptation of Fleming's novel. Casino Royale is the first official Bond film to be co-produced by Columbia Pictures, which had produced and originally distributed the 1967 non-canonical film version; this is the result of the 2005 Sony/Comcast consortium's acquisition of MGM, parent company of Bond film series rights co-owner United Artists.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Development 4 The search for the new James Bond 4.1 The search for Vesper Lynd 5 Production 5.1 Filming 5.2 Vehicles and gadgets 6 Soundtrack 7 Release and response 7.1 Critics 7.2 Box office 8 DVD release 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Plot

James Bond, not yet a Double-O agent, is sent on a mission to kill an MI6 section chief who has sold British secrets. Bond must make two kills to qualify for Double-0 status: first, the British agent's associate and then the section chief himself. The killing of the contact in the men's room is part of the gunbarrel sequence that leads into the opening titles.

Bond then travels to Madagascar in pursuit of an international bomb-maker, Mollaka. The two engage in a free running chase sequence that ends in the embassy building of Nambutu. When surrounded by embassy soldiers, Bond kills the bomb-maker and blows up part of the embassy in the process. Bond's actions are recorded on closed-circuit television and exposed on the world press, which causes M, his boss at MI6, to become enraged with him.

Le Chiffre, an unscrupulous banker who manages money for terrorist organizations, uses his connections to stage attacks against certain companies in order to buy put options for their shares with his clients' funds. Anticipating a plan to blow up a new airplane, Le Chiffre purchases $100 million put options for shares of the airliner. Bond foils the attack and stock prices do not fall. The put options then become worthless.

To recoup this loss, Le Chiffre sets up a high-stakes Texas hold 'em poker tournament at Casino Royale in Montenegro. MI6 enters Bond in the tournament to bankrupt Le Chiffre; if he succeeds, it will deny Le Chiffre the money he needs and force him to aid the British government in exchange for protection from his creditors. Bond meets up with Mathis, his contact in Montenegro, and Vesper Lynd, a government Treasury agent, who is assigned to look after Bond's handling of the $10 million buy-in.

During the game, Bond discovers the poker tell that Le Chiffre commits when he is bluffing. However, Bond is later betrayed when Le Chiffre misleads Bond by committing his tell when he has a strong hand, and Bond loses his entire initial stake. Vesper refuses to grant Bond the $5 million necessary to re-buy, so he decides to assassinate Le Chiffre, but American CIA agent Felix Leiter intervenes. Leiter, who is also undercover playing the game, feels that Bond can beat Le Chiffre and gives him the $5 million. In return, Bond agrees to let the CIA take custody of Le Chiffre instead of MI6.

Back at the table, Bond is poisoned by Le Chiffre's henchwoman, Valenka. In his car he tries to activate a defibrillator, but due to a loose wire he nearly dies until Vesper comes to his aid. Bond returns to defeat Le Chiffre, but the villain eludes capture and he and his gang kidnap Vesper. After a near-fatal car chase, Bond is also captured. Le Chiffre tortures Bond by repeatedly striking his testicles with a knotted rope in an effort to get him to reveal the bank account password to the game's winnings. Bond does not yield and instead taunts Le Chiffre. When it becomes clear that Bond will not give in, Le Chiffre moves to castrate him. An instant before he does, Mr. White arrives and kills everyone but Bond and Vesper. Bond awakens in a hospital and has Mathis, whom Le Chiffre had identified as a double agent, arrested.

Later, a banker arrives to transfer the winnings and Bond reveals to Vesper that the password for the transfer is her own name. Vulnerable and moved by her care for him, he admits his love for Vesper vowing to quit the service before it strips him of his humanity. When she agrees, Bond emails his resignation to M, and the two go on a romantic holiday in Venice.

Bond soon learns that the funds were never deposited in the Treasury's account and discovers Vesper taking the money to a mysterious organisation which is hinted throughout the film. Bond pursues them into a building under renovation. In the firefight the floatation devices supporting the structure are ruptured and the foundation collapses into the Grand Canal. Vesper commits suicide by locking herself in an elevator underwater to drown. Mr White is then shown on an opposite balcony surveying the scene, and then walking away with the briefcase of money. Bond, feeling betrayed ("The bitch is dead," he says, in a direct quote from the original novel), learns from M that Vesper had a French-Algerian boyfriend who was kidnapped by the organisation for whom she negotiated the handover of money in order to save his life. Bond, who has Vesper's mobile phone, discovers that, as a last act, Vesper left Mr. White's name and number in her phone for Bond to find. In the next scene, Mr. White, arriving at a palatial estate, receives a phone call. A voice on the other line says, "Mr. White? We need to talk." As White asks, "Who is this?" he is shot in the leg. As he crawls desperately towards the villa, Bond appears, revealing himself as the shooter, and responds to Mr. White's question with the iconic line "The name's Bond. James Bond."

[edit] Cast

• Daniel Craig as James Bond: The star of the film is an MI6 agent recently promoted to 00 status.
• Eva Green as Vesper Lynd: An agent for HM Treasury assigned to supervise Bond and finance his poker table exploits.
• Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre: A shady and evil banker to the world's terrorists. He is a mathematical genius and chess expert, skills which he uses when playing poker. His left eye is scarred and weeps blood.
• Judi Dench as M: The strict head of MI6. Though she feels she has promoted 007 too soon, she is quite maternal towards him.
• Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter: A CIA Operative participating in the film's central poker tournament.
• Giancarlo Giannini as Rene Mathis: Bond's contact in Montenegro.
• Caterina Murino as Solange Dimitrios: Dimitrios's wife, whom Bond seduces.
• Simon Abkarian as Alex Dimitrios: An associate of Le Chiffre, based in the Bahamas.
• Isaach De Bankolé as Steven Obanno: A ruthless Ugandan warlord introduced to Le Chiffre by Mr. White.
• Jesper Christensen as Mr. White: A mysterious and shady liaison between the world's terrorists.
• Ivana Miličević as Valenka: Le Chiffre's girlfriend and henchwoman.
• Sebastien Foucan as Mollaka: A bombmaker pursued through a construction site in Madagascar.
• Ludger Pistor as Mendel: A Swiss banker responsible for all monetary transactions during and after the poker tournament.

The movie features cameo roles by British entrepreneur Richard Branson (seen being frisked at an airport), American hotel tycoon Jerry Inzerillo, Brazilian supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio, (seen when Bond first approaches the Ocean Club) and Sens Unik rapper Carlos Leal. Key members of the production also feature in cameo roles - producer Michael G. Wilson appears as the corrupt Montenegrin police chief, continuing his long-standing tradition of Bond film cameos dating from Goldfinger, while director of cinematography Phil Meheux features briefly as a treasury bureaucrat. In addition, Chinese actress Tsai Chin, who played Ling in the opening sequence of You Only Live Twice, appears as one of the players in the Casino Royale poker game.^[2]

[edit] Development

The film is said to take James Bond "back to his roots" in a film that would be similar to From Russia with Love, where the focus was on character and plot rather than high-tech gadgets and visual effects, two issues that were most criticised in Die Another Day. Additionally, EON admitted that they relied too heavily on CGI effects and accomplished the stunts in Casino Royale "the old fashioned way."^[3] The move towards more action, bigger special effects and CGI in recent Bond films was in part due to a need to compete at the time with big-budget action films that dominated the 1990s box office. However, the success of less grandiose action films such as The Bourne Supremacy in the last few years has suggested the time may be right for the Bond series to scale back as it did during the Roger Moore era with For Your Eyes Only, which followed special effects extravaganzas like Moonraker. This is an acknowledged gamble for the series, as many previous "real world" Bond films such as On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Licence to Kill, although they developed notable cult followings, underperformed at the box office when compared to the more lavish series entries.

The film shows James Bond's origins in the 00 Section (which had never before been established), and is a retcon of the established Bond series. Examples of this include Judi Dench's reprisal of her role as M, who in the Brosnan Bond films was established as a successor to an earlier male M; however, in Casino Royale, she is the first M by whom Bond is employed. Bond also receives his famed Aston Martin DB5 in Casino Royale, first seen in Goldfinger. Bond wields a Walther P99, a gun he first adopted in Tomorrow Never Dies after Bond turns in his original gun, the iconic Walther PPK of previous films (Bond actually begins the series with his preferred .25 Beretta but is relieved of it almost immediately in Dr. No). Bond is also shown holding a PPK in some of the movie posters, with a suppressor attached. Felix Leiter, Bond's long-time CIA friend, whom Bond had previously first met (although he had heard of him) in Dr. No and who had been maimed in his last appearance in Licence to Kill, is introduced for the first time in Casino Royale, as in the book. Although Leiter has been portrayed by a wide variety of Caucasian actors throughout the series, this is only the second Bond film in which he is played by a black actor (Jeffrey Wright; Bernie Casey previously played Leiter in the film, Never Say Never Again, a licensed film that was not produced by EON Productions and is, thus, not part of the series continuity). The film is also clearly set in a 2006 which is very similar to our own: while there is no direct reference to al-Qaeda, M does complain that the bombmaker killed by Bond in Madagascar was not worth the ensuing public scandal because he was not a "true believer", and she also suggests that Le Chiffre had pre-knowledge of the events of 9/11. The Ugandan warlord Steven Obanno, who asks Le Chiffre if he believes in God, is perhaps based on Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army. Bond and other characters use cellular phones with text-messaging capabilities, and other technologies created in recent years.

Two major exclusions from the film are the characters of Q and Miss Moneypenny. They were not included in the screenplay, which makes this only the third Bond film without Q (Live and Let Die and Dr. No being the others) and the first without Moneypenny. In October 2005, producer Michael G. Wilson stated that the omission of the characters was due to the characters not appearing in the novel; however Moneypenny was in the novel and had one line of dialogue, although Major Boothroyd, which the films transformed into the character Q, did not appear until several books later.^[4]

Casino Royale is the first Bond film to take its title from an Ian Fleming novel or short story since 1987's The Living Daylights. It is also the first Bond film since The Living Daylights not to be adapted as a novelisation. Instead a film tie-in edition of Fleming's original novel was published in the U.K. on October 31, 2006.^[5]

Although the film is primarily based on the novel Casino Royale, Solange was the name of a Bond girl in Ian Fleming's short story "007 in New York", which is currently included in the collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights. It is believed the name derives from that story; however, the name is also mentioned (unrelated to the girl in "007 in New York") in the short story "From a View to a Kill", which is included in the For Your Eyes Only collection.

[edit] The search for the new James Bond

Highlighted by a flurry of unconfirmed reports from a variety of different sources, the quest for the actor to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond attracted a great deal of high-profile media attention after rumours began to surface in the autumn of 2004 that Brosnan would not be re-signing with EON Productions to play agent 007 in Casino Royale. Brosnan confirmed this on October 14, 2004, stating "It's absolutely over," and that he considered himself "fired" from the role. A spokesperson for EON Productions issued a statement on April 17, 2005 that it would "definitely not be Pierce Brosnan." Despite this and numerous public denials that he would return, various media continued to report that Brosnan was still in contention for the role. Throughout 2004 and 2005, an endless stream of potential new "Bonds" — both unknowns and established Hollywood actors — were rumoured and even announced by some media. Some of the popular names were mentioned to be in consideration by EON Productions, a list at one point claimed by Michael G. Wilson to be over 200 names long.

Of note, Eric Bana, Clive Owen, Hugh Jackman, and Daniel Craig were at one point confirmed to have been signed or to have been offered the role by various news outlets. More than any other candidate, Clive Owen had been a staying name while the search was continuing, likely due to his previous 1998 film, Croupier and his role in BMW's short film series The Hire, in both of which he played a Bond-like character. Rumours surrounding Owen intensified in early 2005 after he was awarded a Golden Globe and a BAFTA and nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his 2004 film, Closer. However, there were unconfirmed rumours that Owen had turned down the role to avoid typecasting.

By July 2005, the list of names was down to a mere four, popularly known as "the final four," according to the tabloid, The Sunday Mirror. It was claimed that the shortlist had been whittled down to Henry Cavill (22), Alex O'Lachlan (28), Ewan Stewart (47) and Goran Višnjić (32). The list was premature and by September 2005 during a press junket for The Legend of Zorro, Martin Campbell claimed the list to have consisted of 8-10 names.

As early as April 2005 rumours began to swirl around Layer Cake star Daniel Craig. In May, Craig stated that MGM had assured him that he had the job, likewise Matthew Vaughn told reporters that MGM offered him the opportunity to direct, but for both EON Productions had not approached them.^[6] Later Craig claimed that the producers offered him the role, but when he requested to read the script first, they did not have one for him to read so he turned it down.^[7] By August 2005, the 37-year-old Daniel Craig was still considered by many to be in the running and by some insiders, EON Production's preferred choice. On October 11, 2005, the Daily Mail confirmed that Daniel Craig had been signed for the role; however, no official confirmation was made until October 14, 2005 during a news conference held by EON Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The conference was held at noon in London at HMS President, a Royal Naval Reserve station at St Katharine Docks, on the banks of the River Thames downstream of Tower Bridge. Whether it was intentional or not, October 14 is former 007 Roger Moore's birthday.

Daniel Craig marked the first time that 007 is portrayed by an actor under the age of 40 since 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Craig turned 38 during filming of Casino Royale. Craig is also the first Bond to be younger than the film series, having been born in 1968, between the releases of You Only Live Twice and On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

[edit] The search for Vesper Lynd

After Daniel Craig was announced as James Bond the media turned their attention to casting of the lead Bond girl, Vesper Lynd, exacerbated by the fact that filming had already begun without the role having been cast. Casting director Debbie McWilliams has acknowledged that Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron were "strongly considered" for the role.^[8] Tabloids reported that both turned the role down, although McWilliams never confirmed they were offered the part. McWilliams also said that Cécile de France auditioned for the role, but her English accent "wasn't up to scratch." Audrey Tautou was also considered, but ultimately not chosen because of her role in The Da Vinci Code that was released in May 2006.^[9] Eva Green was finally announced as having been cast on February 16, 2006.

Likewise with the search for James Bond, many actresses were named in the media as possible contenders or going so far as to have been confirmed in the media as being signed to the role. The first occurred in January 2006 when the Daily Mail identified Rose Byrne as Vesper, claiming an official announcement would be made soon. When no announcement was made, The Sun tabloid later claimed Thandie Newton had been signed, though she later denied this. Many other actresses had been connected to the role in the media including Sienna Miller (Daniel Craig's co-star in the 2004 film Layer Cake), Naomi Watts, Aishwarya Rai,^[10] Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Rachel McAdams, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Stevens, Jessica Alba, Rachael Stirling (Diana Rigg's daughter), and Vera Farmiga.

[edit] Production

[edit] Filming

See also: James Bond locations

Principal photography for Casino Royale commenced on January 30, 2006, and concluded on July 21, 2006. The film was primarily shot at Barrandov Studios in Prague, with additional location shooting in the Czech Republic, The Bahamas, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Production returned to its traditional home of Pinewood Studios to complete the shooting schedule.

Initially, Michael G. Wilson confirmed that Casino Royale would be filmed and/or take place in Prague and South Africa. However, following problems for EON Productions in securing film locations in South Africa,^[11] the producers had to reconsider their options. On September 13, 2005, CommanderBond.net reported that Martin Campbell (director) and Phil Meheux (director of photography) were scouting Paradise Island in the Bahamas as a possible location for the film.^[12] On October 6, 2005, Martin Campbell confirmed that Casino Royale would film in the Bahamas and "maybe Italy." In addition to the extensive location filming, studio work was done at the Barrandov Studios in Prague and at Pinewood Studios in England, where the film used several stages as well as the paddock tank and the historic Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage. Further shooting in the UK was scheduled for Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, the cricket pavilion at Eton College (although that particular scene was cut from the completed movie) and the Millbrook Vehicle Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.

After principal photography had commenced in Prague on January 30, 2006, the production moved to the Bahamas. Several locations around New Providence were used for filming during February and March, largely on Paradise Island and in the southern Coral Harbour area, with an abandoned Royal Bahamian Air Force base being a particularly important location for the production. Footage set in Uganda was filmed at Black Park, Country Park in Buckinghamshire concluding on July 4, 2006. Additional scenes took place at Albany House - an estate recently acquired by golfers Ernie Els and Tiger Woods.^[13]

The crew returned to the Czech Republic in April, and continued there, filming in Prague, Planá and Loket, before completing in the town of Karlovy Vary in May. A disused spa, formerly known as the Kaiserbad, in Karlovy Vary was used as the exterior of the Casino Royale, with the Grandhotel Pupp serving as the "Hotel Splendide" where Bond stays during his time in Montenegro.^[14]

The main Italian location alluded to by Campbell is Venice, where the majority of the film's ending is set. Other scenes in the latter half of the film were filmed in late May and early June at the Villa del Balbianello on the shores of Lake Como.^[15] Further exterior shooting for the movie took place at properties such as the Villa la Gaeta, near the lakeside town of Menaggio.

On July 30, 2006, a fire broke out at the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage at Pinewood. The damage was significant, but had no effect on the release of Casino Royale as the sets were in the process of being taken down.^[16] The incident occurred one week after filming of Casino Royale had been completed. On 11 August 2006, Pinewood Studios confirmed that no attempt would be made to salvage the remains of the stage, which would be demolished.^[17] A couple of months afterwards, it was announced that the 007 Stage would be rebuilt.^[18]

[edit] Vehicles and gadgets

Main articles: List of James Bond vehicles and List of James Bond gadgets

• Aston Martin DBS - Bond drives the new Aston Martin DBS in Casino Royale. Daniel Craig personally visited the Aston Martin headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire on January 13, 2006 to view and test drive the car.^[19] The vehicle is fitted with hidden compartments and features a medical kit complete with an automated external defibrillator.
• Aston Martin DB5 - Bond's famed Aston Martin DB5 which he wins in a poker game from Dimitrios, first featured in Goldfinger and later Thunderball, Goldeneye, and Tomorrow Never Dies. The classic DB5 model is featured in Casino Royale alongside the new DBS model. ^[20]
• Microchip implant transmitter - Injected into Bond's arm before he leaves for Montenegro. The device is both a tracking device and a medical monitor. When Bond is poisoned by Le Chiffre, Bond's vital signs and medical information are transmitted directly to MI6 headquarters. The data transmitted real time enables MI6 personnel to remotely diagnose the poison used (digitalis), that Bond has gone into ventricular tachycardia, and what drug to use to counteract it.

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Casino Royale (2006 soundtrack)

The soundtrack to the 2006 film Casino Royale was released by Sony Classical on November 14, 2006. The music was composed David Arnold and is Arnold's fourth soundtrack for the film series. Frequent collaborator Nicholas Dodd orchestrated and conducted the score. The title song You Know My Name is performed by Chris Cornell, though it is not present on the sountrack.

[edit] Release and response

Casino Royale premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square, the Odeon West End and the Empire simultaneously in London on November 14, 2006. It marked the 60th Royal Film Performance and benefited the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), whose patron, Queen Elizabeth II, was in attendance with the Duke of Edinburgh. It was the third James Bond premiere that the Queen had attended following You Only Live Twice (1967) and Die Another Day (2002). ^{[21] [22]} Along with the cast and crew, numerous celebrities and 5,000 paying guests were also in attendance with half the proceeds benefiting the CTBF.

[edit] Critics

Reviewers gave a very positive response to the film, especially to Craig's performance. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie an aggregate rating of 95%, the highest rating for a wide-release of the year. The Users' rating was 92%.^[23] Metacritic gave the movie a Metascore of 80 signifying "Generally Favorable Reviews." The movie has also attained a weighted average of 8.0/10 from IMDB users. The Daily Mirror (which had once run a front page news story critical of Craig, with the headline, The name's Bland - James Bland) and The Daily Telegraph compared him to Sean Connery, and the latter praised the script as smartly written, the former noting how the film departed from the series' conventions. The Times also compared Craig to Timothy Dalton, and praised the action as edgy,^[24] with another reviewer citing in particular the crane sequence in Uganda.^[25] Paul Arendt of BBC Films went higher in his praise, acclaiming Craig as the first actor to truly nail Ian Fleming's character.^[26] Kim Newman of Empire^[27] and Todd McCarthy of Variety agreed.^[28] In North America, the movie was also tremendously well-received. MSNBC gave the movie a perfect 5 star rating. ^[29]

Michael Medved gave Casino Royale three stars (out of four) calling it "..intriguing, audacious and very original..". Medved further stated that it is "..more believable, less cartoonish, than previous 007 extravaganzas.", but the "..sometimes sluggish pacing will frustrate some Bond fanatics."^[30]

A reviewer for The Sun praised the film for its darkness and Craig's performance although they felt "like the novel, it suffers from a lack of sharpness in the plot" and felt it required some editing.^[31] A down note came from Tim Adams of The Observer who felt the film came off uncomfortably in an attempt to make the series grittier.^[32] Emanuell Levy agreed, feeling the film's terrorist villains lacked depth, and the ending was long, although he praised Craig and gave the film a B+ overall.^[33] Richard Roeper gave the film a 3 out of 4.

In a poll conducted by IMDb, Casino Royale was voted the best James Bond film ever.[1]

[edit] Box office

Opening day estimates in the United States and Canada show it on top with $14,750,000. Opening weekend estimates in the United States and Canada put it in second place with $40,600,000,^[34] as well as earning another $42,000,000 internationally. Though Happy Feet won the weekend box office overall figures, Casino Royale, per theatre, outperformed Happy Feet which was released in 370 more theatres. Also, Happy Feet, having little more than half the running time of Casino Royale, has had more showings per day. According to Box Office Mojo, Casino Royale acquired, on average, $11,890 per theatre, while Happy Feet grossed $10,918 per theatre. ^{[35] [36]}

United Kingdom ticket sales for the first day of release were GBP 1.7 million, the highest for any Bond film. The record was held previously by Die Another Day (GBP 1.1million).^[37]. Weekend opening total in the UK was £13,400,000, beating the previous record of £9,100,000 held by Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day. It became the third biggest opening weekend of all time, behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. As of November 19th, the UK's intake is over $25,524,511.

Die Another Day's entire British intake ($59,000,000) has also been outgrossed by Casino Royale after only two weeks, having taken over $73,450,000.

The film has had the biggest Bond opening in the Republic of Ireland with over €1,100,000 in the first 2 weeks.

From November 16th to November 19th, the film took in over $43,407,886. The film has broken several records, including taking over Rs. 149,000,000 ($3,200,000) in the first three days of release in India, more than any other western film. In Russia, the film made over $3,800,000, the eighth largest opening for a non-Russian film. ,^[38]. On November 26th the intake was updated, showing the box office intake outside the USA to be over $128,200,000.

Casino Royale opened at #1 in 27 countries, with a weekend gross of $43,407,886 dollars worldwide. ^[39] Casino Royale has so far grossed over $375,530,909 worldwide ^[40]

[edit] DVD release

Casino Royale's release on DVD is scheduled for March 27, 2007 and will also be accompanied by releases on UMD and Blu-ray Disc.^[41]

In the UK, Casino Royale is scheduled for March 19, 2007 on DVD and Sony's HD format Blu-ray.^[42]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Sony Casino Royale Site
• Casino Royale (2006 film) at MySpace
• Casino Royale Reviews at Metacritic
• Official Casino Royale Blog
• Casino Royale at the Internet Movie Database
• Casino Royale at Rotten Tomatoes
• Casino Royale Coverage
• MI6.co.uk site
• James Bond hype at the SuperHeroHype!