251 replies to this topic

[MrDraco]

Looks like its moving forward.

[Bond Bombshell]

Am I the only one unexcited by the cast, and worried about its potential to draw an audience?

DANIEL CRAIG

I've refrained from slating him, preferring to give him a chance, but I have concerns re his commercial appeal for all the reasons much discussed.

EVA GREEN

Not my idea of Vesper. Her looks are a bit hard-nosed, cold, and offbeat as opposed to beautiful and vulnerable, and I would have much preferred Rose Byrne. Can she do a British accent, or will she even bother? The casting of a French actress in a British role will give the wonderful British press even more of an excuse to lay on the bad publicity.

MADS MIKKELSEN

Don't know much about him, but from photos he doesn't seem to bear much resemblance to Le Chiffre in the novel, and visually he may be too close to Craig.

JEFFREY WRIGHT

Is Felix Leiter the most changeable character in film history? It always irritated me the way his age and appearance altered in the previous films, but this is the most radical change yet. The problem with changing an established character's race (even in a reboot) is that its always controversial. Let's wait for accusations of political correctness and counter claims of racism to start. No disrespect intended towards Mr. Wright, but I prefer my Bond cast as originally conceived - Leiter is white, Robinson is black. Why not keep it that way, its less confusing.

DAME JUDI DENCH

God bless you, Ma'am. Unfortunately, class act that you are, your presence in CR totally screws up the reboot concept. Daft and confusing.

The cast may appeal to the more serious fan, but I fear the general public will need more convincing. This is a cast of good actors, but the masses couldn't care less about good acting in a Bond film. They just want to see something flash, escapist, and humorous. A lack of recognizable names means that news of the cast will be met with general indifference. Meanwhile, there seems plenty of material available for an already antagonistic press to continue twisting the knife. This post may be pessimistic, but the most important thing for me is that Bond thrives and continues. It would be nice to have a good film as well, but that's always my second consideration.

[deth]

I've never thought Eva Greene was too good looking actually.... everything I've seen of her she has thisalmost 'druggy' look about her....


AND so is Giancarlo Giannini Mathis????? hm..... kinda old... no?

Edited by deth, 17 February 2006 - 04:35 PM.

[blueman]

Yes, you are the only one.

[bleary_25]

Felix was black in "Never Say Never Again". This film is a reboot and has nothing to do with the novels. Whose to say Fleming wouldn't have made Leiter black in more englightened times?

Is there something in the character of Felix that requires him to be white? No. Nothing whatsoever. It's called colour-blind casting. So unless there's some reason for a character to be white, he can be any damn colour he needs to be!

Jeffrey Wright is a brilliant actor. I know his work far better than Craig's - so Wright's casting actually has me excited. (I saw Craig in "Munich" and I feel much better about him being Bond now.)

Giancarlo Gianni and Eva Green - supberb choices.

This combined with the leaked script details make me very excited about "Casino Royale".

[Harmsway]

EVA GREEN

Not my idea of Vesper. Her looks are a bit hard-nosed, cold, and offbeat as opposed to beautiful and vulnerable, and I would have much preferred Rose Byrne. Can she do a British accent, or will she even bother? The casting of a French actress in a British role will give the wonderful British press even more of an excuse to lay on the bad publicity.

Fleming describes Vesper with an "ironical chill" to her profile. There's definitely something cold and aloof about Fleming's Vesper, most definitely.

And she can do a fine British accent (see KINGDOM OF HEAVEN).

[Tinfinger]

Over a hundred million dollars spent, and not one name actor among them...wow, that's ballsy, EON. Good luck.

[Roger Moore's Bad Facelift]

Jeffrey Wright?!?
Man, that came out of left field.
The guy's an amazing actor.
The guy can play anything.
Just brilliant.
Still, never in a million years would I have associated him with Leiter.

[rubixcub]

Never thought I'd see Wright in a Bond film. He's a tremendous actor- "Angels in America" was a lot to sit through, but Wright's Emmy and Golden Globe-winning performance therein (adapted from his Tony-winning performance in the Broadway production) still hangs on the memory.

Wright is one of those character actors who is only the right role away from an Oscar. He's a critical favorite and with good reason.

Never seen the work of Green or Mikkelson. Worried about the latter- when will Mike and Barbare get it through their heads that young villains will not put more in seats, and that the sameness of it is getting tiresome? I'm afraid we're going to lose the "my dear boy" monologue from the novel (such a great speech, such a potentially great cinematic moment, such a bloody shame).

Also, if somebody refers to the girl as "Bond's equal" again as if such a statement is any different from the last three films (which it isn't, the exact words came up each time) I'll scream. It's like each time they go "this time it's different, this time she's Bond's equal", only they've been saying that for 10 years now.

Happy about the casting of Giannini, I liked him in "Hannibal" (despite hating the film overall) and looking forward to seeing how Mathis comes off in the film.

Dave

[dinovelvet]

Over a hundred million dollars spent, and not one name actor among them...wow, that's ballsy, EON. Good luck.

Bond, James Bond.

That name brings in the kinds of crowds that Cruise, Hanks, and Gibson can only dream of. (Well, yes, their respective movies usually do pretty well too, but you get what I'm saying).

[Jim]

Giancarlo Giannini as Mathis is a bit of inspired casting. Even though he's fairly important character in the novel, I don't seem to recall there being much talk about him to the point where I pretty much didn't give any consideration to who I thought should play him, but Giannini is a perfect choice. And a lot of people will recognize him from Hannibal.

I'm pretty sure that amongst others around here I have advocated Giannini as appearing in a Bond film (although as a villain) for some time.

Me 'n' Loomy-Loo - in years past we would have been burned as witches: from April 2004:-

QUOTE (Jim @ 1 April 2004 - 10:32)
Still think bloke what played Pazzi in Hannibal would be fun.


Loomis: Yes, Giancarlo Giannini - he's got "supporting role in a Bond film" written all over him. So his wife tells me, anyway.

I can't claim anything whatsoever to do with it, but I'd like to!

This is all very interesting. For some of these folks I haven't seen anything they've been in so I have no preconceived notions.

[Tinfinger]

Not to sound mean, but the pics of the actress playing Vesper makes her out to look like a crack whore.

[Jim]

Not to sound mean, but the pics of the actress playing Vesper makes her out to look like a crack whore.

Unsure that achieves your aim of "not sounding mean".

Anything nice to say?

[Tinfinger]

I am sure she is a nice person, but those pics don't do her justice

[EtherealPrey]

Well I'm just glad they finally announced who's who and ended keeping us in suspense! Now they better hurry up and film! Though I have no idea who Eva Green is, I'm sure she'll do a great job.

[SecretAgentFan]

I think EON and SONY proved all the naysayers wrong. CR is not about casting the flavor of the month or pushing for big names. Instead they had a vision, cast Daniel Craig, knowing he would be controversial. And then they went on and tried to find interesting and exciting actors to do the other roles justice. This Bond film will be different because it really takes things serious and doesn

[Bond_Bishop]

OMFG!!! FINALLY!

Eva Green will be a terrific Vesper I think, she sure has the looks but I would rather have Rose Byrne in that role. And Giancarlo Gianni as Mathis! That is great, I have always wanted to see Gianni in a Bond film. Great news.

[Bill]

Eva Green is quite the babe. I will be checking out The Dreamers ASAP.

As for Jeffrey Wright, as aside from David Hedison no actor has played Leiter twice and as none of the Leiters look alike, I suppose it does not really matter what race the actor playing Leiter is. As long as he is American (or can pull off an effective accent). And male. Still, a far cry from Fleming's description.

This brings me to a far more significant point, and that is that now that Leiter's presence is confirmed in the film, if he is indeed meeting 007 for the first time, it will definitely be a reboot.

My feelings on the matter have been made in other threads. (In short, I hate the reboot idea.) I am just wondering how Martin Campbell can claim that we will be getting an insight into the Bond that we know and love when they have effectively wiped out the twenty films from which we know him. And before this starts another bunch of posts claiming that there is no continuity in the films, the simple fact is that yes, there is.

I admire the filmmakers for wanting to make a more down to earth Bond film, more reliant on story and character then spectacle and special effects. However, even if they want to tell the story of 007's first mission, with a little creativity and effort, which they have never had a problem with in the past, they could do so without negating all that has come before.

It appears as if we as Bond fans will have to make a clean break. Dr. No through Die Another Day will be the James Bond Films Volume 1. Casino Royale onwards will be Volume 2--possibly--but will there be a Chapter 2 in Volume 2?

I do not wish this production any ill will. However, there is a school of thought that based on lack of star power alone, there is no way this film will succeed. For example, check this link:

http://www.thesuperf...ond_girl_1.html

Now while that site has its tongue firmly in cheek, aside from Judi Dench there is nobody in this movie that I have really ever heard of before they were cast. Yes, I saw Shaft, but have no recollection of Jeffrey Wright, and I had vaguely heard of Eva Green in The Dreamers before. Aside from them, and Ivana Milicevic and only because I saw the Seinfeld episode, there is no one in the main cast with whom I have any familiarity.

For the record, I follow movies and television to as great an extent as probably most of you. Again, aside from Judi Dench, the most memorable film or television appearance anyone in the cast has done is a guest appearance on Seinfeld!

As for the argument that the Bond films rarely rely on big actors, I will acknowledge that that is true. However, they always rely on the star. Daniel Craig is largely unproven. I hate to say this, but of the three movies that I have seen with him in it, Tomb Raider, The Road to Perdition and Layer Cake, I only remember him in the latter. And that was because I saw it back in August or September on DVD as he was one of the names being thrown out there to possibly be Bond. I did enjoy the film, but it was certainly not a movie that I would have picked up without the Bond hype and would have thought that he would make a good 007.

Craig has, up to this point, really no star power. Granted, when Sean Connery started playing Bond, he did not either, but it can be argued that the films grew with him. As much as I admire George Lazenby and OHMSS, the film is widely viewed at the very least, a box office disappointment. Roger Moore did have star power after starring in The Saint, and thus his films did very well. I think that Timothy Dalton was an excellent Bond, but while The Living Daylights did do well, Licence To Kill did not. I know there are a lot of reasons for this, but its cast at the time was largely unknown--but given that they were mostly American, better known in this country then the CR cast!

Pierce Brosnan's costars, were for the most part, perhaps the greatest known prior to Bond of any of the Bond films's cast. The fact is that the Brosnan films were all tremendous box office successes. While Pierce has not enjoyed the same level of success in his non-Bond outings, aside from The Thomas Crown Affair, the fact is that he was largely perceived by the public as a man who was born to be James Bond on a level which eclipsed all of his predecessors--even Connery, for whom it can be argued that he was already Bond and did not need to be born to play it.

So far, I have not seen that quality in Daniel Craig. As this will be effectively a brand new series, he may not need it. However, it seems to be an awful big risk for another $100,000,000 picture.

We'll have to wait and see.

Bill

Edited by Bill, 17 February 2006 - 07:00 AM.

[stamper]

Agreed.

I would find it virtually impossible, at this point, for Casino Royale to become one of the over-the-top action without substance films that I'd feared it might become now that so many top-notch and respected actors and actresses are on board for this film. Like I said earlier in the thread, I think that EON has put together the best cast for a Bond film quite possibly since On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

What ? It begins to look more and more like "americanisation" of Bond to me, XxX like... This casting might be great for a TV movie. Not a Bond movie. and NSNA black man Leiter looked more classy. I'm not speaking of Vesper, which looks like she could star in a X rated movie period. Add to this a vilain who looks like a henchman, a Bond which so far is not convincing everyone (thought I have hopes, he looks good on the shoot), M in a beige suit and in a beige house, "Bond logs in to the internet for 21th time in this movie to find out that Le Chiffre is dealing drugs on Google news", er... can we scream "help !" !

What's next, Bond in hot bed with M ?

No, bring back Connery for a Dark Knight style final film, now that would be exciting !

[Blofeld's Cat]

Finally, we have our Vespa and Felix.

Need to check up on Eva Green, but Jeffrey Wright was good in Syriana.

[Tinfinger]

Bill, you are absolutely right, and you are also going to get a lot of flak on this board for saying what you just said, too.

[Bill]

Thanks, Tinfinger.

I just said what I thought is right.

I have been a James Bond fan for over 25 years. Even during the long period between LTK and GE, I have never felt this frustrated and upset about 007. For those that are celebrating Craig and the idea of a reboot, I am happy for them in that they are able to do so. However, I really wonder how they can do so without a sense of disappointment in seeing Bond being changed into something that ultimately does not appear as if it will be Bond at all.

Bill

Edited by Bill, 17 February 2006 - 07:33 AM.

[Jim]

No reason to fear that anything you've written to attract flak, Bill - you have taken the time to explain your concerns and they are very interesting and it's appreciated that you do.

It's the one-liners that express nothing excpt a knee-jerk negativity that get (and deserve) flak.

[Tinfinger]

I agree, Bill. This definitely is not the James Bond I grew up with. I do not think James Bond needed rebooting, reinvented, or anything close. All Bond needed was a good storyline and good people to carry it through. I think they threw the baby out with the bathwater here, and I think it's not the way they should have gone. I don't ultimately believe this version will be all that successful, as it goes too against the grain of what people are used to with Bond. I could be wrong, however, and if that happens, I'll be the first one on here to admit it.

[Bond Bombshell]

Yes, you are the only one.

Well done blueman, you polled all CBn members in record time! Obviously, missed Tinfinger, though!

Felix was black in "Never Say Never Again". This film is a reboot and has nothing to do with the novels. Whose to say Fleming wouldn't have made Leiter black in more englightened times?

Is there something in the character of Felix that requires him to be white? No. Nothing whatsoever. It's called colour-blind casting. So unless there's some reason for a character to be white, he can be any damn colour he needs to be!

Yes, Felix was black in NSNA, but this film was not made by Eon. I am surprised that Eon would nick an idea from their rivals, as opposed to being trend setters. CR represents the last time Eon will have some original Fleming material to work from, and they will try to make the most of this. In this light, your claim that the film has nothing to do with the novels is mistaken. Fleming was a bit of a racist. Have you read Live And Let Die? He would never have turned Leiter black.

I don't believe that you make any substantial points in your next paragraph. Whether one deems there is a requirement or a reason for a character to be a particular colour is very much a matter of differing opinion. Felix, like Bond is a fictional character, so there are no absolute rights or wrongs in his depiction. Eon/Sony have creative control and have a perfect right to do anything they see fit with the characters. Its then up to us punters to either accept or discard their vision. Most will accept a black Leiter, some will find it odd, and some may reject the idea outright. Personally, as an older Bond fan, I find it a change that will need some time getting used to, simply because I am so used to Leiter being Caucasian. Those fans that have grown up in the Leiter-lite Brosnan era have an advantage in this regard as to them Leiter may be a new character.

Fleming describes Vesper with an "ironical chill" to her profile. There's definitely something cold and aloof about Fleming's Vesper, most definitely.

And she can do a fine British accent (see KINGDOM OF HEAVEN).

Good news about the accent. I'm still not a fan of Green's look. She seems more like a femme fatale than I imagined Vesper to be, and I preferred Byrne's vulnerability. On a lighter note, is anyone embarrassed that when you google Green's images one of the first pics that comes up can only be described as gynaecological. Just think of the number of people who will be looking at this in the next few days! I'm not sure about her face, but she has cute nether regions.

[ShySmile]

I'm happy.. after all, it's Bond! However, I think the most important aspect comes in how their characters are gonna work with Craig's 007. The biggest hero right now is Paul Haggis.

[dinovelvet]

Am I the only one unexcited by the cast, and worried about its potential to draw an audience?

The cast may appeal to the more serious fan, but I fear the general public will need more convincing. This is a cast of good actors, but the masses couldn't care less about good acting in a Bond film.

I really don't think the general public have ever based their decision to see a Bond film based on the quality of the supporting cast. But I dunno, maybe there were people who debated seeing AVTAK : "Well its got Christopher Walken in it, but Grace Jones, I dunno. Oh Patrick Macnee, he's good! Big Ron from Eastenders? Yeah let's see it after all". And I doubt lines were forming round the block for TWINE in anticipation of seeing Sophie Marceau and Robert Carlyle together on screen for the first time. BOND is the name draw. Nothing else is required. Neither TLD nor GE had ANY actors above B-list status (yes even Judi, who was mostly known for tv and stage work then), and each of those films successfully launched a new actor and out-earned the film that came before it. Right now the success or failure of CR depends on pretty much one thing : does the trailer kick enough ? Everything else, Craig, the reboot, the supporting cast is of secondary concern to them out there.

[marktmurphy]

Very impressed with Wright and that Mathis fella. Happy with all, really.

Does this mean we'll get a GoldenEye-sized press conference soon? I suppose Craig's comfort level would be an important factor in that.

[Skudor]

I'm all excited about this movie. I hope they don't dissappoint me! The cast looks great - I'm extremely pleased about Eva Green and Mads Mikkelsen.

The reboot aside, the casting is a return to the old Bond formula -> staying away from well known actors. Casting people like Denise Richards, and to a lesser extent Halle Berry, was a mistake (commercial reasoning aside) - Bond films have always benefited from having cast that really take on their characters. If nothing else, it hides their lack of depth. Wouldn't Christmas Jones have been an interesting character if played by an unknown/lesser known actress - instead of watching Denise Richards playing another embarrasing part, we would have seen Christmas Jones. She probably would have gotten away with being pretty and young.

[Double-Oh Agent]

I'm afraid I'm in the distinct minority with this latest news. I join Bond Bombshell, Tinfinger, and Bill in their reactions and, yes Deth, I see a bit of the druggy look in Eva Green as well.

What can I say about this latest news (and Casino Royale on the whole) other than just about everything I had hoped for with the film, EON and Sony have done virtually the EXACT opposite!

First, James Bond: No Pierce Brosnan returning for a fifth film. Then no Hugh Jackman as Bond #6. But then EON hired Daniel Craig for 007. So at least that was good.

Then the story will be Bond Begins. Okay, I can live with that. However, it turns out that Judi Dench will play Barbara "M" Mawdsley for Bond's first mission.

Then on top of that it is confirmed that the story will be a rebooting of the series, thereby severing all the continuity ties that had come before it with the stupid, unnecessary decision.

On a more positive note are the locations, which look stunningly beautiful and well selected.

But then we have the casting of Le Chiffre. Mads Mikkelsen looks nothing like the Le Chiffre of the novel. Gone is the attitudinally superior paternal villain. In is the evil older brother. While Mikkelsen is far from my first choice for Le Chiffre (Jurgen Tarrach might have been interesting), I believe he does have the potential to be a good, solid villain so I'm willing to give him a chance and am optimistic regarding his casting. So on the whole, I guess my reaction is

As for (Rene?) Mathis, I find it disappointing that Bond's best friend in Europe (in the novels) will not be around his age. Instead, he will be a 60-year-old father figure type. At least Mathis will be in the film as well as be played by a good actor in the form of Giancarlo Giannini. However, my overall reaction to this news is once again:

Next we have Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter. A Black Felix? What, all of a sudden we're doing Never Say Never Again 2? Wright may be a good actor, and from all I've heard, he is (as for myself, I've found him to be fine), but Felix is not Black. He's White--just like James Bond. Having Felix be Black in NSNA was somewhat acceptable because it was not an official EON film and no one had played the character twice before. That is not the case now. Surely, there were equally talented White actors who could have been cast? This is not said or meant to be viewed as racist, it's just a fact that in the novels Felix is White. Likewise, the Mr. Big character in Live And Let Die is Black and should have been played by a Black actor, as he was. So, in conclusion, Wright as Leiter?

And lastly we finally get the casting of Vesper Lynd and it was NOT worth the wait. I was hot for Rose Byrne (pun intended) who perfectly captures the looks and essense of Vesper and, equally important, is a good actress. Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, EON apparently didn't think she was right and decided that Eva Green was. Green does absolutely nothing for me. I don't consider her all that great looking. The photos I've seen of her, she's got a bit of a grungy look to her. I do not get a Vesper vibe from her AT ALL. She was my last choice of all the rumored candidates and then to my utter dismay she ends up getting the role. All I can say is NNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!

So as a result of all this, my original excitement and enthusiasm over the coming Casino Royale has quickly subsided to just fanboy interest. In a word I'm bummed and only the passage of time and (hopefully) a good film can perk me up.

Just on a side note, I am amazed so many posters have been so positive about these latest news items which makes me wonder if their reactions are just natural enthusiasm for getting any sort of news after such a long wait. For example, if Helena Bonham Carter and Steve Buscemi had been cast as Vesper and Felix, respectively, that there would have been a big positive uproar as well.

Anyway, there is my two cents worth. I think I need a drink (or two).