Casino Royale Archives – We Got This Covered

A worryingly weary thriller that took a backseat to its BTS drama dethrones James Bond and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on streaming

Charlotte Simmons — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 13:57:00 +0000

In the year 2019, Olivia Wilde made her directorial debut with Booksmart, the teen comedy film starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever as two straight-edge high school students who endeavor to transgressively mark their graduation by attending a party. Along the way, they run into a serial killer, become stop-motion animated, reconcile the pains in their friendship, and share the screen with a revelatory Billie Lourd as their classmate Gigi. It is completely and utterly wonderful.

Wilde’s next directorial effort was Don’t Worry Darling. Worrying, evidently, is something that she and her cast and crew should have done a lot more.

But none of those worries had to do with streaming viewership. Per FlixPatrol, this day of Oct. 17 has seen Don’t Worry Darling debut at the top of Prime Video‘s Top 10 film rankings in the United Kingdom. It stars Florence Pugh as Alice Chambers, a 1950s-era housewife who lives with her husband Jack (Harry Styles) in the Californian town of Victory. The men aren’t allowed to talk about what they do for work, which is clue number one to the suspicious circumstances surrounding the existence of the town, Alice’s life, and Alice herself.

Photo via Warner Bros. Pictures

Don’t Worry Darling is a decidedly well-acted film whose ideas are simultaneously poorly executed, worth talking about, and difficult to talk about without giving too much away. Chris Pine’s character — a man by the name of Frank who Wilde herself said was inspired by Jordan Peterson — is the most I’ll say about that.

Its biggest diegetic problem is that it wants to build a sprawling world/puzzle for Alice (and, by extension, us audiences) to get lost in, but makes us infer things that don’t have enough depth to infer anything meaningful from, all while treating its most elementary mysteries as though they’re the most major points of intrigue. Its biggest real-world problem, however, is the gargantuan drama monster that wandered out of the production side of things.

Indeed, all the plot twists in the world would have held less attention than the reported on-set conflicts between Pugh and Wilde, Wilde and LaBeouf (who was originally set to play Jack and was allegedly fired for poor behavior), Styles and Pine, and just about every possible pairing you can imagine. Shortly after the film’s theatrical release, 40 of Don’t Worry Darling‘s crew dismissed all the rumors as false, and conflict reports have been denied time and time again.

It’s of course unfortunate that Don’t Worry Darling, as middling as it is, was overshadowed by fundamentally uninteresting interpersonal drama. But hey, anything to get Killer Heat further away from the top spot (at the time of writing, the sloppy Joseph Gordon-Levitt crime drama that would most aptly be characterized as “content” is sitting at second place).

Image via Sony Pictures

Also of note is the library of Daniel Craig-era James Bond films populating the Top 10, including No Time to Die, Skyfall, Spectre, and the most interesting of the bunch; Casino Royale.

Safely one of, if not the best James Bond film out there, Casino Royale marked Craig’s foray into the shoes of Agent 007, and was notable for taking the character of Bond — a clean, sharp, womanizing Mary Sue whose prowess as an agent is only matched by his utterly despicable personality — and reinventing him with a pronounced emotional core that rendered him just as vulnerable as anyone else.

It was a decidedly intelligent choice that has earned every bit of praise that it’s received (to say nothing of Craig’s individual performance, which some touted for an Oscar nomination at the time), but at the same time, one has to wonder if Casino Royale was actually a good movie, or if it simply took advantage of the very low bar set by the Bonds of yore to make itself seem like a good movie. Indeed, it may be the best Bond film, but that’s no great feat if all it had to do was operate in an honest emotional framework for once.

‘I probably said so many things wrong at lunch that I killed myself’: A director promised their shot at a $7.8 billion saga didn’t get the gig, but the studio stole his casting suggestion anyway

Scott Campbell — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 16:18:03 +0000

Outside of X-Men: First Class, Matthew Vaughn has largely focused on attempting to craft his own franchises from the ground up, with Argylle potentially ing Kick-Ass and Kingsman on the docket should it take off at the box office when it hits theaters in February.

His name is one that comes up regularly in the James Bond conversation, though, but it’s easy to see why he continues distancing himself from the chatter after revealing his Casino Royale experience on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

Not only did he get a call from the studio telling him the job was basically his if he wanted it, but he even suggested his Layer Cake lead Daniel Craig for the part of 007, leaving him to wonder if a fateful lunch where he should have been offered the gig may have actually nuked his chances instead.

Image via Sony Pictures

“It was a really weird time when I got a phone call saying, “would you be interested in meeting about doing Casino Royale">but the public weren’t exactly sold on his hiring at the time, either. It sounds as if we can at least partially attribute that to Vaughn, even if we’re left wondering what went down during the meeting for his so-called “guarantee” of helming Casino Royale failing to materialize.

Mads Mikkelsen, Cillian Murphy, and more top the list of most ‘down to Earth actors’

Carolyn Jenkins — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 22:47:14 +0000

Actors of Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando’s caliber are always considered classic; they were theatrically-trained professionals who took everything seriously, and produced some of the best performances that we can think of. But there can be a double-edged sword to this kind of performer — Brando was such an industry professional that he took himself over-seriously in his later years, and created a lot of behind-the-scenes drama. He may have crafted some of cinema’s ultimate roles as Stanley Kowalski and Don Corleone, but his ego seemed to overshadow his work.

Modern actors, as a whole, appear to be less neurotic and have more of a sense of humor. Or, at the very least, they seem to think that being a Hollywood actor isn’t a reason to think too highly of themselves. Contemporary thespians aspire to rack up a wide variety of credits, and have chosen the career for the joy of it. Of course, not all celebrities are created equal, but the famous actors who’ve truly earned a place in fans’ hearts tend to be the most relatable. Some fans on Reddit found that whether they are in big blockbusters or not, some actors are just a delight in interviews because of how down-to-earth they are.

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Hannibal’s own Mads Mikkelsen has starred in some truly exemplary movies and TV shows, and was at the top of the list. But in addition to the iconic villains he’s portrayed in franchise films, Mikkelsen has also given some iconic interviews.

After doing an interview with GQ about his iconic roles, the actor showed his playful side, sharing anecdotes from the set of Casino Royale. And the one actor that was (ironically) terrible at poker?

“Daniel [Craig],” Mikkelsen shared. “He had no clue. He sucked.”

And after appearing as the titular character in Rihanna’s music video “B**** Better Have My Money,” the actor humbly acknowledged in a Vulture interview that he was just happy to be part of the production.

Mads Mikkelsen on being cast in the music video for Rihanna’s "Bitch Better Have My Money": https://t.co/Ey6SwDPmH5 pic.twitter.com/QTW2v3Xn6y
— Vulture (@vulture) April 20, 2021

And then, of course, there is the image of him during press for Rogue One that tells 1,000 words.

End of 2016 mood: Mads Mikkelsen opening a full bottle of vodka in the middle of a Rogue One interview. pic.twitter.com/XgwRPNWkpJ
— Deniz S. (@MrFilmkritik) December 27, 2016

Redditors were also quick to name another unpretentious star with a wide range of roles — one Cillian Murphy. The Irish actor’s first big role was as a survivor of a zombie apocalypse in a cult favorite flick that hit the nail on the head of zombie films before they became all the rage: Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later.

The film was small, but paved the way for his relationship with Christopher Nolan. The director cast Murphy as Dr. Crane in his Batman franchise, and continued to work with him for the next two decades until he finally landed a leading role for the director in Oppenheimer. But even more impressive than Murphy’s body of work is how much he leans away from the limelight. Murphy has all the worth ethic of a classic Hollywood actor, but apparently none of the ego.

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Even when a part of big productions, Murphy shies away from questions about himself, and is dismissive of much of the celebrity culture of being an actor. In an exclusive interview with People, Emily Blunt revealed she teased Murphy about his trademark eyes.

“It’s like that ‘Ocean Eyes’ song by Billie Eilish. We just hum it all day,” she said. However, Murphy was quick to disagree.

“They’re not even that blue!” Murphy responded. As a truly unpretentious actor, he doesn’t put down other people’s works, and was even an advocate for the Barbenheimer trend catching the internet like wildfire. When Variety asked if he would consider playing a Ken if a sequel came about, his answer was simple.

“Sure, yeah. Let’s read the script, let’s have a conversation,” Murphy responded about playing Ken. “I can’t wait to see [Barbie]. I can’t wait to see the movie. I think it’s great for cinema to get all these great movies happening this summer.”

Some franchise actors are a little more eccentric

Image via Summit Entertainment

Mikkelsen and Murphy have been in the industry for a long time, and know how to play the press game. But some of their younger cohorts have a different method of addressing celebrity culture. Robert Pattinson was a familiar face in the indie scene before he landed Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter. And the rest, as they say, is history. When the actor landed the role of an intense vampire, Edward Cullen, he could not be bothered with acting how the production may have wanted him to. By his ission, Pattinson can’t help himself going off the book when the center of attention, as he told Willem Dafoe in a conversation for Interview.

“I definitely do get a certain high from it. There’s a little gremlin inside of me that thinks, ‘Just say something shocking. You’re only here for a few minutes, say something terrible.’ There’s a kind of perverse glee I get from that. But I’ve given my publicist a number of heart attacks.”

Because of that, Pattinson is the gift that keeps on giving as he gives some interview moments beyond reproach. Even when promoting Twilight, he couldn’t help but give his honest opinion.

“I was convinced that Stephenie [Meyer] was convinced she was Bella and it was like a book that wasn’t supposed to be published, and you’re like reading her sort of sexual fantasy. And especially when she said it was based on a dream and it’s like ‘I had this dream about this sexy guy,’ and she goes and just writes this book about it,” Pattinson told E!, going on to conclude: “This woman is mad.”

And then there is the notorious GQ interview where the actor blew up his microwave. There is no predicting what Pattinson will say next, making him one of the most unique household names. The last person to consider himself a heartthrob, the actor seems to have the most fun.

Though not quite in the same league of having no filter, Pattinson’s Harry Potter co-star Daniel Radcliffe deserves to be in the same category. The child actor who played the titular character of J.K. Rowling’s children’s series took the opportunity to move on from the franchise. Radcliffe would go on to serious fare like the neo-Nazi film Imperium, but also plays Weird Al Yankovic in the fictionalized biopic. Throw in his characters from Guns Akimbo and The Lost City, and you have an actor who does not care what people think. Branching out appealed to Radcliffe, who had interests outside of playing The Boy Who Lived.

“I had this awareness that people expected we would do nothing after Potter — that we would fade away,” Radcliffe told GQ. “I really wanted that not to be the case, because I knew that I loved it, and I wanted to do whatever I have to do to have a career with longevity.”

Experienced actors stopped caring what people think

Image via Marvel Studios.

There are those actors who have been around the block so many times that doing press and acting is just another day at the office. As opposed to self-serious performers who only ever want to be in Oscar-nominated films, other industry professionals work for the love of acting. Samuel L. Jackson is one of the most beloved actors who is also exceptionally straightforward. He knows his worth, but he also just enjoys what he does. Jackson recalled in an interview with Vulture that he jumped at the chance to be in Snakes on a Plane because he knew what a good time it would be.

“When I got there, they were trying to change the name of it to something like Pacific Flight 121, ‘Cause we don’t want to give it away.’ I was like, ‘That’s exactly what you want to do! Hell is wrong with you? I signed up for Snakes on a Plane and I guarantee you that audiences will be way more excited about Snakes on a Plane than Pacific Flight 121.”

As per usual, he was right, and the film contains one of his most quotable lines of all time. And in the same vein, Jackson also knows what a talented actor he is. After getting his honorary Oscar after being snubbed so many times in the past for the award, Jackson had no problems with acknowledging that he deserved it.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan falls into the category of rejecting Hollywood ideals as well. He and his wife, Hilarie Burton Morgan, live on a farm in upstate New York with their children, even as the actor jokingly tells one of them: “Go away son, I hate you,” in his remote Hot Ones interview. Morgan has come a long way since bursting onto the scene. An actor who had died in roles just as much as Sean Bean, he was a name to look out for after appearing as Izzie’s dead fiance in Grey’s Anatomy. His role gained him the part of The Comedian in Zack Snyder’s The Watchmen, and his career took off from there. Morgan is never one to mince words, and makes no apologies for who he is.

And then there is one of the most kindest actors on the scene, Keanu Reeves. Starting in action picture megabits such as Speed and The Matrix, Reeves soon got a reputation for his friendly demeanor. The Independent reported all of his touching interactions with fans over the years, as well as his tireless advocacy for cancer research. Reeves is one of those actors who means what he says, and is an example of leading a selfless life.

Other actors are down to earth in a different way

Image via Sony Pictures

In the 2010s, there had been no one bigger than Jennifer Lawrence. The youngest Oscar winner at the time, she reached heights of fame after leading The Hunger Games as unlikely rebel Katniss Everdeen. But Lawrence was also never one to bask in the limelight. Though she continues to make films, she took a decided break after concerns about overexposure. Her self-awareness is uncommon in the entertainment industry, and is even more impressive when factoring in how young she was when starting her career. Recent credits included the rated R comedy, No Hard Feelings, and the interview show, Hot Ones, where she shared her feelings on Method acting.

“I would be nervous to work with somebody who is Method,” Lawrence said. “I would have no idea how to talk to them. Do I have to be in character? That would make me nervous.” Lawrence took a page from Christian Bale’s playbook, taking only 10 seconds to get into character. The Hunger Games actor has very little concern for fame or censoring herself, like contemporary Anna Kendrick.

Like Lawrence, Kendrick wound up in the middle of a hot franchise at the start of her career. She didn’t play the lead, but is one of the shining lights of Twilight who is legitimately funny. When speaking to Vanity Fair, the actor confessed that the set wasn’t quite as magical.

“I just my Converse being completely soaked through and feeling like, you know, this is a really great group of people, and I’m sure that we would be friends in a different time, but I want to murder everyone,” Kendrick said candidly about the experience, adding as a caveat: “There was like something about it that was like, you know, like you go through like some trauma event, like people who survive like a hostage situation. You’re kind of bonded for life.” Fans respond to people they identify with, and the more outspoken actors are, the more they become embraced.

An all-time great reboot indebted to an all-time great reboot in the very same franchise strikes twice on streaming

Scott Campbell — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 06:55:33 +0000

The law of diminishing returns is very real when it comes to franchise fare, meaning that lightning doesn’t often strike twice for any high-profile IP. However, bringing Martin Campbell back into the James Bond fold to direct Casino Royale proved to be a masterstroke in every imaginable fashion.

Of course, the filmmaker had previous for rebooting cinema’s most famous secret agent in spectacular style, with GoldenEye introducing Pierce Brosnan’s spin on the legendary MI6 operative to the masses following the title hero’s longest-ever absence from the big screen, and it immediately went down in the history books as one of the best Bonds ever.

Image via Eon Productions

Repeating the magic, Campbell only went and did the exact same thing via Daniel Craig’s first stint under the tux, with the black-and-white prologue alone leaving audiences completely and utterly convinced they were in the midst of greatness. Sure enough, Casino Royale wasn’t just the highest-grossing James Bond blockbuster ever made at the time, it instantly stood tall as one of the finest.

We’re going to go out on a limb and say Campbell won’t be getting a third bite at the cherry when the next movie ends up securing the person to steer the ship from behind the camera, but going two-for-two on classics is a hell of a legacy to leave behind.

GoldenEye might be nowhere to be found, but Casino Royale currently flying high as one of the most-watched features on both Prime Video and iTunes this weekend (per FlixPatrol) hammers home that greatness never goes out of style.

James Bond’s greatest-ever drink orders, explained

Matthew Doherty — Thu, 04 May 2023 18:10:10 +0000

It’s not just vodka martinis with British super-spy James Bond. In the books and films, Bond knocks back so much drink that it makes fans grieve for his liver. Bond author Ian Fleming was no stranger to a cocktail or three and put his extensive knowledge of alcohol into the writing.

Below is a selection of some of the greatest (and most inebriating) Bond drink orders ever.

One pint of Canadian Club Blended Rye Whiskey

Photo via Prime Video

While it’s not the most elaborate beverage Bond ever ordered, he was certainly fond of his whiskies. In the novel version of Dr. No, Bond undergoes days of intense physical training before taking on the master criminal. Each night, “Bond went to the icebox and took a pint of Canadian Club Blended Rye and some ice and soda-water and went and sat in the garden and watched the last light flame and die.” Even after plowing through a pint of the stuff, Bond still somehow manages to wake up fresh the next morning.

Taittinger champagne (multiple glasses)

Photo via Prime Video

Bond gets through a lot of champagne in the books. Though Bollinger and Dom Pérignon are his more famous tipples, Bond seems to prefer Tattinger. Enjoying a date with fellow agent Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, Bond confesses that it is “not a well-known brand, but it is probably the finest champagne in the world.”

So many glasses of the stuff are consumed throughout the books that it would take too long to list them all. Ian Fleming himself enjoyed close ties with the Tattinger estate, and was sent cases in appreciation.

Four steins of excellent Bavarian beer

Photo via Prime Video

While Bond isn’t known as a beer-drinking man, he did make occasional exceptions. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Bond is getting married to the beautiful Tracy Di Vicenzo. At his bachelor party, he manages to down four steins of beer in quick succession (about 4 pints). Always one to mix his drinks, he also orders a double Steinhäger Schnapps to wash them down.

Six measures of vodka with one of Vermouth

Photo via Prime Video

Even seasoned drinkers would find it hard to make it through the drink Bond girl Solitaire mixes for our hero in the novel Live and Let Die. A whopping six parts vodka to one of Vermouth made one of the strongest vodka martinis Bond ever downed. As she wisely said to the British super spy while handing him a glass, “six to one sounds terribly strong.”

To be fair, Bond and Solitaire had just survived a near-death experience involving an underwater mine, so at least had a good reason to get wasted.

One large glass of Vesper

Photo via Prime Video

Perhaps the greatest Bond drink ever, the Vesper packs a refined yet heavy punch. As Bond explains to a bemused French barman in the book Casino Royale, he wants “three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel.”

Bond goes on to say that while he never has more than one drink before dinner, he does like it to be “large and very strong and very cold and very well-made.” He decides to name the drink after his female companion.

Anyone wanting to make the perfect Vesper these days may be out of luck. Kina Lillet isn’t even produced anymore. In the ‘50s, it was a very strong fortified wine with an extremely bitter taste. Lillet Blanc is the closest the modern drinker can come to it.

The Vesper is possibly the most inebriating of all the Bond drinks, mixing wine, gin, and vodka in a dangerously intoxicating brew. Classy and cool, it is the ideal accompaniment to an all-night card session… if you can still see straight after downing one.

‘The judgement is clear’: Eva Green releases statement on ‘painful and damaging’ million-dollar lawsuit

Chynna Wilkinson — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 14:44:50 +0000

WARNING: This article contains several expletives (cited directly from the source) in the third paragraph.

Casino Royale actress Eva Green has won the legal battle against financiers whom she had sued in London’s High Court on Friday, emerging victorious with the million-dollar settlement. The Frenchwoman sued White Lantern Films and SMC Specialty Finance for the $1 million fee she was owed for an independent movie titled A Patriot, in which she was to star as a soldier. It was Judge Michael Green who awarded Green with the $1 million fee, claiming that she was entitled to it.

However, White Lantern Films had counter-sued against Green for a supposed breach of contract, blaming her entirely for the science-fiction film’s failure and accusing her of never having the intention to see it through. As Reuters reports, “Green, 42, appeared in court in January to say she had become concerned the film’s production team had been cutting corners, citing how her stunt training had been reduced from four weeks to five days.”

White Lantern’s legal team also claimed that Green made unreasonable demands, particularly concerning the crew, locations and equipment. The lawyers cited WhatsApp messages from Green in which she described one producer as a “fucking moron” and another as “evil.” In addition, she described the movie’s funders as “arseholes” and certain crew as “shitty peasants.”

In light of her victory, Green released a statement on Instagram to address the lawsuit.

She wrote: “I fought tooth and nail to defend the beautiful film that I loved and had signed on for. I stood my ground and, this time, justice prevailed.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eva Green (@evagreenweb)

In her closing sentence, Green wrote: “I promise with all my heart, I will always strive to deserve the kind that you have given me. Thank you.”

While Green is a household name in the U.K. for her role as Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale (alongside Daniel Craig’s James Bond), many Americans will recognize her from either Dark Shadows, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Penny Dreadful or Disney’s live-action Dumbo remake.

She last appeared in The Three Musketeers series as Milady de Winter, but she’ll no doubt be making headlines alongside Ruby Rose in the action-thriller Dirty Angels.

A James Bond contender blew their chance at landing the coveted role by trying out a joke on the producers

Scott Campbell — Sat, 22 Apr 2023 16:47:46 +0000

Most people with even a ing interest in the James Bond franchise will no doubt be completely aware that Henry Cavill was the runner-up behind Daniel Craig when the iconic secret agent was being recast ahead of Casino Royale, but what about the rest of the field?

Hugh Jackman famously turned it down, but as one of the most coveted roles in all of cinema, there would have been a substantial list of candidates ready and willing to throw their hat into the ring in order to get a shot at donning the tux, wielding the Walther PPK, and saving the world from inevitable destruction.

Image via Eon Productions

One of them was Matthew Rhys of The Americans fame, so at least he’d go on to enjoy a stellar career in onscreen espionage. Looking at it from a modern point of view, though, he’d have been a decent fit for the part, but he revealed to The Times that he blew his chance by deciding to tell a joke during his audition.

“Very intimidating. We were just told to wear a dark suit and read Casino Royale. I just going, ‘Ah.’ I was so not anticipating that question. And then I was like, is it a trick question? Are they waiting for people to go, ‘I wouldn’t do anything. He’s perfect’? Oh, it’s been a bit one-note for a few decades, hasn’t it? I think we can drop the misogynistic joke. I’d give him a limp. I said, ‘Limp?’ Nothing. ‘Eye patch?’ Nothing.”

To be fair, this came after the point that Pierce Brosnan’s Die Another Day had gone way too far when it came to bad puns and even worse quips, so perhaps trying out a bad joke for what proved to be a hard-hitting and gritty reboot wasn’t the best idea.

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ star recalls disastrous James Bond audition

David James — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 10:49:30 +0000

James Cameron clearly sees something others don’t in Sam Worthington. After Avatar became the highest-grossing movie of all time he went on to appear in a bunch of middling action movies, though he’s back on top after returning to Pandora in the smash-hit Avatar: The Way of Water.

Worthington will reprise the role in the three Avatar movies, with Jake Sully clearly determined to bring the fight to the human invaders and lead the Na’vi to victory. But, if a mid-2000s audition had gone better, he could have had a very different career. In an interview on the Fitzy & Whippa podcast, Worthington explains that he auditioned to play James Bond in Casino Royale, though it didn’t exactly go to plan:

“I did go for Bond. I went and did the audition with Martin Campbell, who ended up directing Casino Royale. You walk in, there’s the girl in the bed, you charm her. I could get the killer of Bond down. I just couldn’t get the charm. I couldn’t charm her. The suit didn’t fit, man. I tried to do a British accent. I did say to them I wanted to wear the white tuxedo like Roger Moore. I wanted to bring back kung fu chops, and they looked at me like I was crazy.”

A kung fu-chopping Roger Moore-esque Bond is precisely the opposite of Casino Royale‘s back-to-basics brutal and blunt spy so we’re not surprised Worthington failed the audition. Even so, it’s interesting to imagine what the world might be like if Campbell had chosen him, likely meaning Worthington would be too tied up with Bond to take on Avatar.

Perhaps his and Daniel Craig’s roles might have been reversed and we’d have seen a very different kind of Jake Sully wreaking havoc on Pandora?

But, let’s face it, Worthington’s everyman qualities make him perfect for Avatar and Craig brought a sense of danger and unpredictability to Bond, so both men ended up in the right place.

Avatar: The Way of Water is still in theaters.

Quentin Tarantino reflects on almost tackling James Bond in ‘Casino Royale’

Francisca Tinoco — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 17:02:08 +0000

Quentin Tarantino isn’t the first person one would think of to direct for a big franchise, especially given his recent comments on Marvel films and their respective directors. Once upon a time, however, the Pulp Fiction filmmaker had his eyes on 007, but it didn’t work out.

Back in 1994, after making Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino was interested in adapting the first ever James Bond book by Ian Fleming Casino Royale. In an interview with Deadline, the 59-year-old looks back on the Tarantino Bond film that never was.

The rights to Casino Royale, which Tarantino says everyone believed was “unfilmable”, were not owned by EON, the production company behind every single Bond film, up until 1999. The Pulp Fiction director believes that if things had stayed that way he might have made his own Casino Royale adaptation after all, but he missed his window.

“[EON] anticipated somebody like me, coming at them from a backdoor situation. So they did a thing with Ian Fleming’s estate and they go, ‘Look, we’re buying the rights to everything that Ian Fleming has his name on. So nobody can do what this Tarantino character is trying to do or what this Tarantino character is going to try to do a couple years from now.'”

Tarantino is not interested in answering to any other creative authorities over his own films, and that goes for Marvel, Disney, or, in the case of 007, EON. It’s obvious that Tarantino’s James Bond would be significantly different from the Martin Campbell, Daniel Craig-led, version. And, unfortunately, it’s one we will never get to see.

There are no regrets on Tarantino’s side, though, since there is no point crying over spilled milk. He went on to make Jackie Brown and Kill Bill instead. “I don’t think I wish I had done any of these movies, more than the movies that I ultimately chose doing,” Tarantino said.

Looking towards the future instead, the famed director is working on a limited series, which he has already finished writing, and plans to direct too. It’s expected to begin production sometime this year.

Daniel Craig always envisioned the end of his time as James Bond

Evan J. Pretzer — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 02:44:36 +0000

While actor Daniel Craig has a new franchise forming with Knives Out, the world will always his time as James Bond and now the English-American actor has revealed he had his character’s end in mind from when he first began back in 2006.

The 54-year-old reveals the fact about his iteration of the character’s demise in No Time to Die in a new article published by The Sunday Times. While outlining his new career mission — which is apparently to make people laugh — the star says he initially thought his work in Casino Royale would be one and done, but, after its premiere, the way the future would unfold took shape.

“I was driving away from the Berlin premiere of Casino Royale with Barbara Broccoli. I had genuinely thought I would do one Bond movie, then it would be over. But by then we knew we had a hit on our hands. I realised the enormity of it, so I said to Barbara, ‘how many more? Three? Four?’ She said, ‘four!’ I said, ‘OK. Then can I kill him off?’ She said, ‘Yes.’”

The rest, of course, has been cinematic history. At one point before his final turn in the role, Craig said he would rather cut his wrists than do more work as the character, though he later apologized for this and at the moment appears to be happier without the pressure of the franchise on his shoulders. Glass Onion co-star Dave Bautista stated as much in a recent article published by Entertainment Weekly.

What comes next remains to be seen. Craig has been rumored to be up for a role in the MCU and Brian Johnson has begun writing the third in the Knives Out franchise for Netflix only recently — which Craig is contracted to play the lead once more. Until then, it is unclear where the actor will pop up — or which accent he will be spouting either.

A 15-year-old James Bond Easter egg is leaving fans desperate to see 007’s unlikeliest mission

Chynna Wilkinson — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 15:09:57 +0000

Daniel Craig officially sung his swan song as MI6 agent 007 in 2021’s No Time To Die, leaving the spot wide open for someone else to take the reins. His run as Bond lasted over 15 years, beginning with 2006’s Casino Royale in which he starred alongside Eva Green and Mads Mikkelsen. Although Casino Royale isn’t as relevant nowadays as some of Craig’s more recent works, Bond fanatics are still noticing Easter eggs in Craigs Bond debut; one in particular even suggests that before sending off his resignation to M (Judi Dench), Bond made a request via email for… stationery.

Apparently, the infamous James Bond needed stationery so badly that he felt the need to email the higher-ups about it. Well, he does burn through a lot of laser pens, and there’s almost certainly a notebook gadget out there that he’s in desperate need of, so maybe that’s the reason. It’s such an insignificant detail, but it opens up a whole world of possibility in the imagination of Bond fans everywhere, especially as they start visualizing the scene where Bond constructs the email — and even M’s reaction.

While rewatching Casino Royale, I noticed that the last email Bond sent before his resignation was a request for stationary.

And now I need to see the scene where Bond's need for stationary was vital that he was forced to email someone about it. pic.twitter.com/RUFBk3OBaP
— Rory Cashin (@roarEcashin) December 4, 2022

After all the feats of heroism that Bond has performed since 2006, fans are most eager to see his hunt for stationery, which just might be his unlikeliest mission yet. He’s faced the likes of Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen), Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) and Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), but his biggest nemesis is a several lack of office supplies. Perhaps there’s some deleted footage somewhere, if we’re lucky.

‘Casino Royale’ hid a cool James Bond Easter Egg in plain sight

David James — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 07:44:30 +0000

There is no doubt that Casino Royale, released back in 2006, reinvigorated the James Bond franchise. This was Daniel Craig’s debut as the elite spy, which came with a reboot of the concept, jettisoned a lot of the campy elements, and told a much more grounded story. It was an enormous critical and box office hit, grossing $615 million on a $150 million budget and is now regularly ranked among the finest entries in the franchise.

Now the official James Bond Instagram has posted an Easter Egg from the movie contained within Bond’s port. Check it out:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by James Bond 007 (@007)

The notes that Bond’s birthday is the same day as the publication of Ian Fleming’s Casino Royal novel in 1953, which is a fun nod to the long history of the story. However, comments on the image are somewhat more baffled by Bond’s place of birth being Berlin.

As per the franchise, Bond is an orphan raised in Scotland, with Skyfall taking us to his isolated country home. However, his birthplace being in (which would have been West at that time) actually fits in neatly with the Craig Bond’s official biography.

This states that Bond’s father Andrew was an s manager at a British defense company’s Berlin office, with his mother Monique being from Switzerland. It seems that the Bond family was originally based in Europe, with them living in Berlin and Bond’s earliest education taking place in the country.

This also means there’s a dangling plot thread that the movies never capitalized on. If Bond’s father was active in West at a defense company, it seems like a no-brainer he’d have been wrapped up in espionage related to the Cold War. This could have made for a fun link to Bond’s long-lost past, especially with Skyfall exploring his childhood home.

With Craig’s Bond saga now at an end, the stage is set for a new version of 007, so perhaps we could see an updated backstory in which Bond’s father’s exploits in 1980s Berlin play a role. Here’s hoping we will find who’ll next get the coveted license to kill soon.