Casino Royale (2006) is the twenty-first film in the James Bond series; it was directed by Martin Campbell and the first to star Daniel Craig as MI6 agent James Bond. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, it was adapted by screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis. It is the third screen adaptation of the Casino Royale novel, which was previously produced as a 1954 television episode and a 1967 satirical film. The film is set at the beginning of James Bond's career as Agent 007, just as he is earning his license to kill. After preventing a terrorist attack at Miami International Airport, Bond falls for Vesper Lynd, the treasury agent assigned to provide the money he needs to foil a high-stakes poker tournament organised by Le Chiffre. The film's story arc continues in the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace .
The 2006 film is the only EON Productions adaptation of Fleming's novel. It is a reboot of the Bond franchise, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework not meant to be preceded by (or serve as a prequel to) any previous film. This not only frees the Bond franchise from more than forty years of continuity, but allows the film to show a less experienced and more vulnerable Bond.
Casino Royale was released on 16 November 2006. The casting for the movie involved a widespread search for a new actor to portray James Bond, and significant controversy over Daniel Craig, when he was eventually selected. Some Pierce Brosnan fans threatened to boycott the film in protest. Despite this, the film, and Daniel Craig's performance in particular, earned critical acclaim. Casino Royale was produced by EON Productions for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, marking the first official Bond film to be co-produced by the latter studio, which had produced and originally distributed the 1967 non-canonical film version. The 2006 version is the highest-grossing Bond film, without adjusting for inflation, making $594,239,066 worldwide. The MPAA rated the movie PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Violent Action, a scene of Torture, Sexual Content and Nudity.
Plot
In Prague, James Bond earns his 00 status when he corners and kills corrupt MI6 section chief Dryden and his underground contact Fisher. In Uganda, Mr. White, a senior official in a shadowy organization, arranges a meeting between a terrorist tied banker, Le Chiffre, and Obanno, the leader of a guerrilla group seeking a safe haven for his funds. Le Chiffre assures the leader that there is "no risk in the portfolio," but his investments actually involve considerable risk: he short sells successful companies and then profits by engineering terrorist attacks to sink their stock values.
In his first mission as Agent 007, Bond pursues an international bomb-maker named Mollaka in Madagascar. After a parkour chase across the city to the Nambutu embassy, Bond kills his target and blows up a part of the embassy to enable his escape. He obtains Mollaka's mobile phone and discovers that it has received an SMS from Alex Dimitrios, an associate of Le Chiffre in the Bahamas. Bond travels there, wins Dimitrios's Aston Martin DB5 in a poker game, and seduces his wife, Solange Dimitrios, who reveals that her husband is flying to Miami on business. Bond travels there, kills Dimitrios, and foils Le Chiffre's plan to destroy the prototype Skyfleet airliner. This leaves the banker with a major financial loss, since he had shorted and bought put options on Skyfleet stock, which then expired worthless. However, in retaliation Le Chiffre has Solange brutally murdered.
Now under pressure to recoup his clients' money, Le Chiffre sets up a high-stakes poker tournament at Casino Royale in Montenegro. Hoping that a defeat would force Le Chiffre to aid the British government in exchange for protection from his creditors, MI6 enters Bond into the tournament. He meets up with René Mathis, his ally and MI6 agent in Montenegro, and Vesper Lynd, an official from HM Treasury, who is assigned to look after his handling of the government's $10 million buy-in. As the tournament progresses, Le Chiffre tricks Bond into believing he is bluffing; when Bond goes all-in, he loses his initial stake. Vesper, who says his bet was reckless, refuses to give Bond additional funds to buy back into the tournament.
Distraught over his failure, Bond prepares to assassinate Le Chiffre when he is intercepted by one of the other players, who introduces himself as CIA officer Felix Leiter. Also out to get Le Chiffre, Leiter believes Bond has a better chance to win than himself and offers to supply him with enough funds to re-enter the tournament in exchange for allowing the CIA custody of Le Chiffre. In an effort to secure his win, Le Chiffre has Bond poisoned, and the spy goes into cardiac arrest. Vesper manages to save his life, and he goes back to the game. Bond rapidly recoups his losses and wins the tournament with an inside draw to a straight flush. Following her celebratory dinner with Bond, Vesper is abducted by Le Chiffre, who uses her to lure Bond into a near-fatal car chase and ultimate capture. Le Chiffre strips Bond naked, ties his hands and feet to a chair, and tortures him for the access code to the game's winnings by lashing his testicles. When it becomes clear that Bond will not yield, Le Chiffre prepares to castrate him. At that moment Mr. White enters and executes Le Chiffre and his associates for their failure. Bond and Vesper are left alive.
Bond awakens in a hospital on Lake Como and orders the arrest of Mathis, who Le Chiffre said was a double agent. Bond admits his love for Vesper and vows to quit the service before it strips him of his humanity. Accordingly, he posts his resignation to M and goes on a romantic holiday in Venice with Vesper. However, Bond soon learns that his poker winnings were never deposited into the Treasury's account. Realizing that Vesper has stolen them, he pursues her into a building under renovation where she meets members of her organization. Bond shoots the flotation devices supporting the structure to gain access to the building, but as he does so the foundation starts to slowly collapse into the Grand Canal. After killing the henchmen in the building, Bond finds Vesper imprisoned in a lift. Apologizing to him tearfully, she locks herself inside as the lift plunges under the rising waters, where Vesper purposefully takes in water in an effort to drown more quickly. Bond dives in, breaks into the lift and pulls Vesper's body onto the roof of the collapsed building, where Bond's attempts to resuscitate her are in vain. Mr. White, watching from a balcony, walks away with the money, which had been seen earlier floating away in the rising floodwaters.
M tells Bond that Vesper had a French-Algerian boyfriend who was kidnapped and held for ransom by the organization behind Le Chiffre and White. Bond learns that she agreed to deliver the ransom money (his winnings) only if they would consent to let Bond live. James discovers that Vesper has left Mr. White's name and number in her mobile phone for him to find. White, arriving at a palatial estate near Lake Como, receives a phone call. As he asks the identity of the caller, he is shot in the leg. Bond approaches, with a silenced UMP in hand, and replies, "The name's Bond. James Bond."
Cast
- Daniel Craig as James Bond : A British agent who, after being assigned 00-status, is sent on a mission to arrest a bomb maker in Madagascar, where he stumbles upon Le Chiffre's terrorist cell and is then sent to defeat him in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale.
- 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 banker who services many of the world's terrorists. He is a mathematical genius and chess expert, and uses these skills when playing poker.
- Judi Dench as M : The strict head of MI6. Though she feels she has promoted Bond too soon and expresses abhorrence of his rash actions, she acts as an important maternal figure in his life. Dench was the only cast member carried through from the Brosnan films.
- Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter : A quiet CIA operative participating in the poker tournament while assisting Bond. This is the first official Bond film in which Leiter is played by a black actor. (The only other black actor to portray Felix Leiter was Bernie Casey in Never Say Never Again , which was not produced by EON.)
- Giancarlo Giannini as René Mathis : Bond's contact in Montenegro.
- Simon Abkarian as Alex Dimitrios : Another contractor in the international terrorist underworld and associate of Le Chiffre, based in the Bahamas.
- Caterina Murino as Solange Dimitrios : Dimitrios's wife, whom Bond seduces. She is killed by Le Chiffre for unintentionally revealing one of his plans to Bond.
- Ivana Miličević as Valenka : Le Chiffre's girlfriend and henchwoman.
- Isaach De Bankolé as Steven Obanno : A feared leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, introduced to Le Chiffre by Mr. White to account his finances.
- Jesper Christensen as Mr. White : A mysterious liaison for an unnamed terrorist organisation.
- Sébastien Foucan as Mollaka : A bombmak
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