After assuming that Daniel Craig [Layer
Cake] was going to be the next Bond the last few days,
it comes more as a sigh of relief to finally hear the actor give an official
press conference about the role.
Daniel Craig for Casino Royale
Two days ago I had a question mark behind that
header, thankfully I can now finally delete it. According to TheHollywoodReporter,
Four Royal Marine Rigid Raider speedboats raced beneath Tower Bridge on
the River Thames at midday Friday, escorting the new 007 to a media conference
at Royal Navy Reserve training base HMS President. Though Craig will be
playing the agent without fear, he comments that his ride to the press conferance
for Casino Royale scared the shit out of him.
Craig has been selected for the role of Bond amidst a ton of applicants
that included Orlando Bloom, Clive Owen, Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell.
However, Craig was the top name in a shortening list for the past couple
of weeks.
Daniel Craig will be the second Englishman to play
Ian Fleming's classic secret agent, joining Roger Moore. The others were
Scot Sean Connery, Australian George Lazenby, Welshman Timothy Dalton and
Irishman Pierce Brosnan.
According to Martin Campbell [Golden Eye], this Bond film
will have a budget north of $100M and will take a "tougher and grittier"
look at Bond than the previous films. Also unlike the previous Bond
films, Campbell told the press an early premise for the film: "It's
where he becomes Bond and earns his 00 stripes and license to kill."
The director also goes on to mention that Casino Royale is shooting
for a PG-13 rating that will feature a Bond who doesn't smoke. I guess with
domestic laws if you show one shot of Bond smoking you have to match it
with a shot of Bond condemning cigarettes. Well, not really, but lets just
say that it is heading in this direction.
Michael Wilson said that Casino Royale will begin shooting in January
for a Nov. 17, 2006, release, at the U.K.'s Pinewood Studios and in Prague,
the Bahamas and Italy. "It will be very much a locations movie as opposed
to the studio-driven Bond movies of the past," he said.
For the entire report on Casino Royale and Daniel Craig, go to
THR.
Daniel Craig in Layer Cake
Add to Heffee!
