Correct me if I'm wrong though, both the Bourne series and Batman Begins used named actors in supporting roles. Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Julia Styles, Joan Allen , Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson.
Well, the Bournes are less star-studded than BATMAN BEGINS, and I think CASINO ROYALE will take the Bourne approach to casting rather than the BB approach. I'm not sure that Owen was all that well-known when he appeared in THE BOURNE IDENTITY, and the likes of Allen and Cox may be familiar to audiences but are definitely not "stars" like Angelina Jolie and Naomi Watts.
Can Casino Royale be successful with Judi Dench and Craig as the only name stars?
I think so. Look at THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. Or GOLDENEYE. Or quite a few other Bond films. I'm firmly of the belief that "James Bond" is the only "name" the filmmakers need, and Craig's star power will effectively be doubled on this occasion since the novelty value of a new Bond actor will be a powerful audience draw. "Stars" are not needed, and I don't think the filmmakers should look around for another Sophie Marceau or Halle Berry to play Vesper.
Don't take my back and forth as being combative - just healthy dialougue
Absolutely. I don't take it as combative. And the same goes for my own posts, of course.
TLD had named actors Joe Don Baker & John Rhys-Davies that US audiences recognized as did GoldenEye in Sean Bean and (again) Joe Don Baker. So far, I haven't seen an actor or actress mentioned that will be recognized other than Craig & Dench.
True. And I'm in the UK, but I'd heard of Baker, Rhys-Davies, Bean and co. long before THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and GOLDENEYE (but then, I am a movie geek). But I hadn't heard of any of the rumoured cast of CASINO ROYALE before reading about them in recent days on CBn.
I just wonder if they would be better off with (say) a Anthony Hopkins or named actor in a limited villian role.
Well, it probably wouldn't
hurt, but, like I say, I really don't think CR needs any star power, any more than, say, ROCKY BALBOA requires any big name other than Sylvester Stallone. Perhaps CR's box office take will indicate that my assumptions are wrong, though. But my feeling is that a Hopkins would cost Sony and Eon a pretty penny without really making all that much difference to the film's performance. And they definitely need to keep the focus on Craig this time out. I say the smart thing for The Powers That Be to do would be to keep the possibility of hiring someone like De Niro or Hopkins as the villain up their sleeves for BOND 22.