268 replies to this topic

[Loomis]

Craig's 'Casino' Connections 'Layer Cake' actor talks of Bond #6 casting paralysis

Apologies if this comes across as an exercise in "Owenology", but it seems to me that Craig is a serious contender for the Bond role after all. The man himself confirms that he's "in a group of names" and mentions "discussions" involving Barbara Broccoli. He says of the Bond people: "I do know them and I have talked to them, but there's no decision made as yet." Presumably, those talks related to CASINO ROYALE, although for all I know Craig may be under consideration as a possible Le Chiffre rather than a potential 007. On the other hand, he does nothing to dismiss the notion that he is indeed being looked at for the role of Bond. On the contrary, his words very much reinforce that notion.

At any rate, it's hardly a denial (far from it), and seems a heck of a lot more concrete than a guy standing on a red carpet and nodding his head and grinning while saying "I'm very busy".

Looks like Craig is very much a realistic candidate, then. Perhaps we'll see his Bond screentest as a future DVD extra, like Sam Neill's for THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (because I doubt the filmmakers will end up hiring him to play Bond - he'd be an extremely brave choice [just as Neill would have been]).

http://www.chron.com...ainment/3163070

"Daniel Craig, are you the next James Bond?" ...

... "I don't know," he said without hesitation. "It's kind of out of my hands. I don't know. I mean, there are a couple of names going around."

Hmmm. Did that sound like a firm denial?

"If I was to be (Bond)," he continued, "and I'm not saying I am, I couldn't tell you anyway. Believe me, I couldn't tell you. So the answer is ... I'm in a group of names. It's a high-class problem to have."

With all due respect, that sounds a bit like waffling to us. ...

... But back to Bond. Would the blond take it if it were offered to him?

"I don't know," Craig said. "That's the truth of it, I really don't know. It would be difficult not to give it really serious thought." ...

... "I know Barbara Broccoli; I've known her for years," he said. "So the discussions are sort of ... you know."

Chummy?

"There's nothing to say on that level. But I do know them and I have talked to them, but there's no decision made as yet."

But he didn't say no.

[spynovelfan]

Yeah, I think this is very interesting. Unless the entire article is made up - in which case it's a damn good job, and very convincing - this tells us a number of things. Most importantly, it tells us that at least one of these rumours - and one of the most outlandish at that - was not apparently total bull, and that the guy who was reported as having been announced is actually in the running, or was at some stage. Craig suggests there are several others - this would chime with the idea that its between Craig and McMahon - McMahon also said he was one of a couple (or three? Don't remember) in line for the part. So I suspect it is down to the last few candidates now, and someone leaked early or incorrectly that Criag had got it. Could be he was the favourite. Could have been a deliberate leak to see what people made of the idea of Craig - wasn't massively enthusiastic. I don't think either Craig or McMahon would be greeted with great enthusiasm, but certainly McMahon would be the safer and more commercial choice. Many people would be - and have been - vocally against the idea of Craig in the part.

Overall, this article gives me the impression that the rumours haven't been as far off the mark as we might have thought. I also sense that the powers that be are looking at newspapers and sites like this rather a lot. I'm still half-convinced that my tipping of Craig as a decent candidate here a couple of weeks before he was 'announced' isn't coincidence. *Nobody* was discussing Craig as a candidate, and he was pretty off the wall even for me. My post on Craig was on February 4. This was the first reference on this site to Craig being a guy who could play Bond, and as far as I know nobody else was discussing him, even as an outside shot. But by February 25, The Sun had run a story on the race for Bond being down to Clive Owen and Daniel Craig. Coincidence? Perhaps. But considering that the entire bandwagon for Hugh Jackman was the result of one remark he gave in an interview a few years back, and this site and others now have 'Jackman for Bond' advocates, I don't think it's impossible.

So if Craig gets the job, you can blame me.

[Loomis]

Most importantly, it tells us that at least one of these rumours - and one of the most outlandish at that - was not apparently total bull, and that the guy who was reported as having been announced is actually in the running, or was at some stage. Craig suggests there are several others - this would chime with the idea that its between Craig and McMahon - McMahon also said he was one of a couple (or three? Don't remember) in line for the part. So I suspect it is down to the last few candidates now, and someone leaked early or incorrectly that Criag had got it.

Yeah. Don't forget that Dougray Scott is a serious candidate, too (or very recently was), according to CBn staff with access to insiders. And there's an interesting similarity between Scott and Craig - both are, to put it bluntly, rather less than Brosnanesque in terms of looks (many would say they're downright ugly and scary-looking), and would seem ideal for really "dark", "Flemingesque", etc. fare. And, personally, I don't think McMahon is an oil painting, either (that hairline, that forehead, that resemblance to Matt Le Blanc crossed with Kevin Spacey) - I'd agree, though, that he'd be a (considerably) "safer and more commercial choice" than Craig, as well as a safer and more commercial choice than Scott and also Dominic West (another guy who's no Adonis, IMO), whom The Daily Telegraph (I think) reported to be on a shortlist of two a while back. I truly believe that Owen looks like the most handsome chap in town compared to Craig, McMahon, Scott and West.

Wow, could it really be that when Martin Campbell said "CASINO ROYALE will be a grittier, tougher and more realistic Bond movie" and that they'd "be getting away from the huge visual effects kind of films" (CBn's "Campbell Chats 'Casino'" article, 24 February 2005), he wasn't kidding around, and that CR will be a movie to delight the hang 'em and flog 'em, blue-rinsed true blue Tory ultrahardcore literary purists for whom the Dalton outings were simply far too comic and family-friendly?

(Yeah, right.)

As ever, though, who knows what to believe? I'm one of the (apparently very few) Bond fans to have sat up and taken notice of Judi Dench's comments on Brosnan's return being a done deal.

So if Craig gets the job, you can blame me.

Blame you? I'll call security.... and congratulate them.

[spynovelfan]

McMahon is a prettyboy compared to Craig, Scott and even Owen. Sure he has a huge forehead, but he'd be a much more obviously commercial candidate in line with the last few films:



He'd also probably be the cheapest of that lot. But I suspect his announcement he was in the running might mean he knows it's not going to be him, and he's trying to get some attention out of at least getting so far. But yes, all of those candidates are suprisingly 'gritty' - even slick as all that McMahon is fairly imaginative in comparison with what's come before in this series - he's known for playing a close to psychotic sleazebag, from what I can gather of the programme. And all of the above have cruelty in their faces. Could it be - gasp! - that we may be in for a hard-edged film?

Can I just take this opportunity to say that Jonathan Firth would be a great candidate? Yes, he's the brother of Colin Firth:



There, that should do the trick - nice tabloid angle with the brother thing there. Expect him to be announced in The News of The World next Sunday.

[Loomis]

McMahon is a prettyboy compared to Craig, Scott and even Owen. Sure he has a huge forehead, but he'd be a much more obviously commercial candidate in line with the last few films:

Like I say, McMahon would be a much safer and more commercial choice than Craig, Scott or West.... but not Owen. Sure, McMahon's a "prettyboy" (-ish; the forehead, hairline and Spacey resemblance do take the edge off his beauty a bit) and Owen definitely isn't, but Owen is much more handsome, looks much more "like James Bond" (if you get my drift, and I'm sure you do), has - I'm sure - just as many female admirers as McMahon if not many more, and seems "the Bond in waiting" in the popular imagination to a far greater extent than McMahon (or anyone else, for that matter). If (big "if", of course) it's down to Craig, McMahon, Owen, Scott and West, then the safest and most commercial choice would be - overwhelmingly - Owen, followed by McMahon, then probably West, Scott and Craig.

BTW, I suspect that Marton Csokas and/or Karl Urban (the Treadstone assassin in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY and Kirill in TBS respectively) are/were on Eon's Bond list, too. Now, no one's told me that, and I've not read anything linking them to Bond, so I'm basically just making this up, but zencat did say a while ago that he knows of names Eon is considering that haven't been mentioned anywhere. Wouldn't surprise me, then, if Csokas and/or Urban are/were in the Bond people's sights. And, of course, they seem very much cut from the same cloth as Craig, Owen, Scott and West.

Just going to send my "Joseph Fiennes for Bond" story to The Sun now.

[spynovelfan]

Funny you mention Csokas and Urban. If you look at these candidates we're talking about, almost all of them have appeared in rival thriller franchises, and usually as villains:

Daniel Craig was a villain in TOMB RAIDER and was also in LAYER CAKE


Clive Owen was a villain in THE BOURNE IDENTITY
Dougray Scott is best known for being the villain in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2
Julian McMahon is the villain in the new FANTASTIC FOUR film
Dominic West was, um, well, a palace guard in THE PHANTOM MENACE

So it wouldn't surprise me at all if those two Kiwis had been looked at.

[hrabb04]

The Brocollis have gone off the deep end if they think moviegoers will go for Daniel Craig, one of the ugliest actors I have ever seen. Why don't they just put Bond out of his misery right now? Save moviegoers the bullet?

[Martin Mystery]

From what I hear, Craig is a very serious contender indeed.
VERY SERIOUS!

MM

[Seannery]

From what I hear, Craig is a very serious contender indeed.
VERY SERIOUS!

MM

MM who told you this? Don't tell me you're an insider now?!!

[spynovelfan]

The Brocollis have gone off the deep end if they think moviegoers will go for Daniel Craig, one of the ugliest actors I have ever seen.

Well, he's not pretty, that's for sure. But it could work.



'Bond. James Bond.'

He's got a hell of a lot of brute manliness to him, and it does leap off the screen. I think I've said before, but he was much more watchable than Tom Hanks or Paul Newman in THE ROAD TO PERDITION, with a much smaller part. For the whole film, I was wondering who he was, much as I was with Sam Rockwell in THE GREEN MILE. But as my beef with Dalton was that he didn't seem to display the caddish rule-breaking debonair snob side of Bond at all, I have to admit Craig - from the few things I've seen him in - looks like he could made Dalton look like Moore in comparison.

Is everyone ready for Psycho-Bond?

[SeanValen00V]

Brosnan will be back most likely.


I say there's a strong chance Daniel Craig could be a Bond villian, not Bond though. Remember in Casino Royale, the villian is described as a mirror image of Bond, both Dalton and Davi read the book before they shot Licence to Kill, to give the Bond and the villian some connection, and they got on pretty friendly, dispite being villian and hero.

[spynovelfan]

Yes, it would make sense if Craig was umming and erring and not wanting to give away that he was beign cast as the villain. I really can't imagine Brosnan reutning though, despite Dench's quote. Brosnan hasn't just gone public on his website - he's given interviews to major newspapers and TV chat shows discussing how they stabbed him in the back. I know Moore and Connery blah blah - I just think it would look very bad if he came back, and I don't think it's going to happen.

The double thing is interesting. I remember reading the following online script review of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY before the film was out (minor spoilers for that film, kind of):

'Ivan crashing back over a desk as bullets tear into him

[Loomis]

[quote name='hrabb04' date='2 May 2005 - 12:03']The Brocollis have gone off the deep end if they think moviegoers will go for Daniel Craig, one of the ugliest actors I have ever seen.

[Loomis]

The double thing is interesting. ... But if they have Craig as the villain, that would suggest to me that Owen's going to be Bond.

Of course, Martin Campbell has done this "mirror image of Bond" villain thing before, with GOLDENEYE. If you were looking for a Trevelyan figure for Owen's Bond, who better than Craig?

[Martin Mystery]

From what I hear, Craig is a very serious contender indeed.
VERY SERIOUS!

MM

MM who told you this? Don't tell me you're an insider now?!!

Heh... no I'm not an insider.

MM

[Turn]

It's funny. In some shots Craig looks like nothing more than a heavy and in others he does give me a more Bond-like impression. While I was pretty dead-set against him in the beginning I'm going to try to keep a more open mind about him.

[Loomis]

I say there's a strong chance Daniel Craig could be a Bond villian, not Bond though.

Yeah. Ultimately, and just like Neill, Craig isn't handsome enough for Bond, which is why I reckon Eon would pull back from the brink before casting him. Of course, there are photos in which he does look handsome enough (and I'm sure there are many moments in his film/TV work in which he looks handsome enough.... for seconds at a time) - for instance, in the pic spy put alongside the pic of Owen, he looks "okay" for Bond. The problem is that there are also plenty of photos in which he looks quite ridiculously unsuitable - in the photo accompanying the article I quoted in my first post on this thread, he looks worryingly like Mark E. Smith of The Fall. Not good. But a Bond villain? He seems a very promising candidate.

[spynovelfan]

Of course, Martin Campbell has done this "mirror image of Bond" villain thing before, with GOLDENEYE. If you were looking for a Trevelyan figure for Owen's Bond, who better than Craig?

True. My natural inclination about Dougray Scott when people first started mentioning him a few years ago was that he would be even less likely than Sean Bean to get the role. He's played Sean Bean's part in *a rival spy franchise*. And, that seemed to me, would be something Eon would not be interested in. But look at the list. Either Eon are being brave - or they're picking off villains from other franchises to be villains in their own, which is shockingly *un*-imaginative. What if one of the reasons Owen has been so cold when questioned about Bond is because he was tapped to play a villain?

[hrabb04]

Hey, Loomis, if you want Travolta for comedy value, can I drag out my Matthew Perry casting call, too? C'mon, the guy needs work!

[Loomis]

Either Eon are being brave - or they're picking off villains from other franchises to be villains in their own, which is shockingly *un*-imaginative.

Sod's law says it's the latter, I suppose. I very much doubt, though, that Owen was tapped to play a villain. If he's too big for Bond (and I think he is ), then he's certainly too big to be a Bond baddie. With his career going as well as it is, I can't see why he'd be interested in being the bad guy in CASINO ROYALE, even if the role were brilliantly written and challenging and commanded acres of screentime. (Also, I doubt that Eon would want an actor who'd seem likely to overshadow the Bond actor to play the villain.)

I can see Owen playing a villain in a franchise movie under certain circumstances, of course - e.g. a la Gary Oldman in HANNIBAL, working with other amazing actors and being directed by a master like Ridley Scott. But not in a Bond movie. Forget it, spy, I tell you, forget it!

[Daltonfan]

There was also this post in the "Sony wants Owen, Eon wants Craig" thread:

I know last year when Mathew Vaughn had about six weeks of meetings with EON about directing the film, Daniel Craig was with him at nearly all the meetings.

[Loomis]

[quote name='hrabb04' date='2 May 2005 - 13:36']Hey, Loomis, if you want Travolta for comedy value, can I drag out my Matthew Perry casting call, too?

[spynovelfan]

I can see Owen playing a villain in a franchise movie under certain circumstances, of course - e.g. a la Gary Oldman in HANNIBAL, working with other amazing actors and being directed by a master like Ridley Scott. But not in a Bond movie. Forget it, spy, I tell you, forget it!

How about Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce, Robert Carlyle, Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee... I think 'big' actors are actually more likely to play the villain's part. Won't harm their career as much. Look at Samuel L Jackson - surely a bigger star than Owen, and has made it clear he'd jump at the chance of playing a villain. Look at Owen in THE BOURNE IDENTITY!

[Seannery]

It is curious that Craig is saying how friendly he is with Babs and hinting that some kind of talks have occurred. He also hints he may be on some shortlist. His attitude of not sure if he would take Bond if offered does remind me somewhat of Dalton's ambivalence to taking the role and his friendships seems like a friendly one like Timothy had with Cubby. History repeating itself? Another parallel, Dalton wasn't much on the radar and not high on lists and then he was picked as Bond.

I saw a movie over the weekend and it had a preview of Layer Cake and from that short preview my estimation of Craig as Bond has risen. He has a strong presence and does have a suprising bit of elegance to him in a rough way that could be built upon. Still his looks aren't quite Bondian BUT on film he did look better than in stills--it could possibly work. If somehow it came down to Craig and McMahon--I would take Craig easily over the bland uninspiring McMahon.




Zencat what do you make of this Craig article? It seemingly is hinting at things. Do you think he can be secretly on a shortlist? Any possibility of this? To be cynical a second it seems anytime a potenital candidate is promoting a movie their names comes up more concerning Bond. It happened with Owen and Jackman way back and others. First of all at those times they are exposed to the questions and secondly having that publicity can't hurt their profile and their particular movie they are promoting.

[Loomis]

I can see Owen playing a villain in a franchise movie under certain circumstances, of course - e.g. a la Gary Oldman in HANNIBAL, working with other amazing actors and being directed by a master like Ridley Scott. But not in a Bond movie. Forget it, spy, I tell you, forget it!

How about Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce, Robert Carlyle, Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee... I think 'big' actors are actually more likely to play the villain's part. Won't harm their career as much. Look at Samuel L Jackson - surely a bigger star than Owen, and has made it clear he'd jump at the chance of playing a villain. Look at Owen in THE BOURNE IDENTITY!

Yes, but THE BOURNE IDENTITY isn't a Bond film. In fact, it's my HANNIBAL analogy, surrounding Owen with a hip, respected director (Doug Liman) and a cast of brilliant/hip actors (Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Matt Damon, Julia Stiles....). Also, the film stood a chance of being a hit with the critics (and you could also argue that the role of The Professor was an audition for Bond). The likes of Carlyle, Jackson, Lee, Pryce and Walken - while undeniably very famous and successful - are not A-list leading men. They're character actors. Owen has a very good shot now at being an A-list leading man, another Russell Crowe or Mel Gibson. Surely that was what a film like KING ARTHUR was grooming him for. Or, perhaps a little more realistically, Owen has a shot at being another Hugh Grant (without specıalısing in romantic comedies). Would you expect Crowe or Grant to be interested in playing a Bond villain? No, we can forget about Owen as a Bond baddie - especially in the wake of CLOSER and SIN CITY.

[Loomis]

[quote name='Seannery' date='2 May 2005 - 14:10']It is curious that Craig is saying how friendly he is with Babs and hinting that some kind of talks have occurred.

[tdalton]

I'm beginning to think that that report claiming that it was down to Clive Owen and Daniel Craig was true, but now that Owen is starting to book up his schedule for the next year and a half, it might go to Craig by default. I don't think that Craig would be a horrible choice, however, certainly much better than some of the other candidates out there (such as Dougray Scott and some of the lesser known "candidates"). I don't by the whole "we can't have a blond Bond" thing, because if I remember correctly, Roger Moore didn't exactly have the darkest hair in the world either, but a lot of people seemed to take him as Bond fine.

Does anyone find it interesting, though, that Craig is starting to build up momentum for the Bond role and has supposedly been in talks for the role in the two weeks or so leading up to Layer Cake's U.S. release in a week or so?

[Stephenson]

Does anyone know when Craig was supposed to start filming that Olympics movie (or even if it is definitely a go)?

[Loomis]

Does anyone find it interesting, though, that Craig is starting to build up momentum for the Bond role and has supposedly been in talks for the role in the two weeks or so leading up to Layer Cake's U.S. release in a week or so?

What an amazing coincidence, to quote DIE ANOTHER DAY.

However, let's look again at Craig's words. While painstakingly emphasising that he's really not supposed to be talking about any of this at all, he reveals quite a lot:

"I don't know (if I'm the next James Bond). It's kind of out of my hands. I don't know. I mean, there are a couple of names going around."

Flinging himself pretty squarely into the Bond rumour mix there, and implying (with his reference to "a couple of names") that he's very much aware of the state of play of Bond 6 casting.

"If I was to be (Bond), and I'm not saying I am, I couldn't tell you anyway. Believe me, I couldn't tell you."

Guess that means he's seen the torture chamber at Eon HQ, then. "We don't like to use this room," Barbara Broccoli explains, "but sometimes it's.... necessary."

"So the answer is ... I'm in a group of names."

WHAM! So you're on the shortlist, eh, Dan?

"It's a high-class problem to have."

Hmmm.... getting more and more interesting. Bond - high class? Yep.

"I don't know (if I'd take the role of Bond). That's the truth of it, I really don't know. It would be difficult not to give it really serious thought."

Translation: "I'd jump at the chance."

"I know Barbara Broccoli; I've known her for years, so the discussions are sort of ... you know."

Wow! So there's a good chance, then?

"There's nothing to say on that level."

Of course not. Perish the thought. Thought for a moment back there that you were hinting heavily that you were in final negotiations to play 007. Continue.

"But I do know them and I have talked to them, but there's no decision made as yet."

Crikey!

[zencat]

[quote name='Seannery' date='2 May 2005 - 06:10']Zencat what do you make of this Craig article?