Casino Royale — News

There's been a guy on commanderbond.net that has been telling his story about being an extra on Casino Royale. He was on the set 10 days and ended up in the casino scene and was able to meet all the main characters.

Grant McIver schrieb:It didn’t take long for Daniel's solo scenes to be finished, and, and soon all of the extras were called and brought back to our places from the night before. I was at the baccarat table, Stan beside me. My card buddies were scattered about the room, winking at me and flashing the thumbs up. Daniel and Giancarlo were on the other side of the table chatting quietly, and Mads was behind me with his girlfriend and his three bodyguards. He was amusing himself by doing snazzy dance steps, executing nifty little spins. His dance training was fully evident—he was very graceful and moved well. Then the stacks of chips on our table caught his eyes, and he came over and picked one up to examine it. His eyes widened as he saw he’d picked up a $5,000 chip.

“Forget it,” I said. “I had the same idea.”
He looked up and smiled, and I explained where they’d come from. He nodded, then began to flip it like a coin, trying to spin and catch it backhanded before it hit the floor. I asked him the same thing I’d asked Daniel.

“Can you roll it across your knuckles?”
He laughed. “No, I’m afraid not. No matter how much I practiced, I always ended up with chips all over the floor.”

I loved the 'Oops' and the smirk after he revealed his second card.
"You must have thought I was bluffing, Mr. Bond."

"Do you believe in God, Mr. LeChiffre?"
"No, I believe in a reasonable rate of return."

A look back at the Danish premiere of Casino Royale, when Mads Mikkelsen made a special appearance for a group of dedicated Bond fans...

Casino Royale Danish Premiere

17th December 2006

On Thursday 23rd November 2006, the Danish premiere of "Casino Royale" was held at Imperial Cinema in the centre of Copenhagen. The "Double-0 Club", a group of devoted Bond fans in Denmark, report on the event for MI6.



The city of Copenhagen was buzzing. It was oozing Bond everywhere. Expectations were high for the new Bond film, and this particular outing received special treatment in the Danish press ever since it was announced that not just one, but two Danish actors were hired to play baddies in the next Bond film - Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre and Jesper Christensen as Mr. White. It was big when Cecilie Thomsen was part of "Tomorrow Never Dies", and even bigger when Ulrich Thomsen played Davidov in "The World is Not Enough", but this is better than ever for the Danish Bond fans!



The Double-0 Club had been warming up throughout the year. The monthly get-togethers had focused a lot on "Casino Royale", the new Bond, and the Danish bad guys. The members of Double-0 Club have code names in the club, names of Bond Villains, and they have made costumes representing their character.

On the night of the premiere, the Double-0 Club went to town dressed up as Blofeld, Jaws, Oddjob, Largo and Zukovsky. When arriving at the Imperial Cinema, the press goes crazy... The Bond fans in the Double-0 Club get a taste of being celebrities, as cameras flash and photographers shout; "look over here, look over here!". The costumes are appreciated. The club members smile, but mostly because of what happened 30 minutes ago...

Earlier, at the bar next to the cinema - the rendezvous point - the club members teamed up before going to the premiere. A bunch of dressed up guys among a lot of "standard" evening gowns and tuxedos. Suddenly, a stranger sits himself down in the sofa between Blofeld and Oddjobb. It seems he wants to join our club of bad guys. He looks a lot like Le Chiffre...! It is Mads Mikkelsen, the REAL Le Chiffre! "I've GOT to sit here! You boys have really done something special" he says. Cameras are out, flashing. Mads Mikkelsen knows how to make our day. He seems very on top of things... Happy, kind, open minded... A nice moment to remember.



Later, after the film, Mads Mikkelsen went on stage to receive a large round of applause from the Danish audience. He talked a little about the film and the world premiere, including his experience of meeting the Queen Elizabeth II. Everybody in the theatre seemed very happy with the film, the actors, and the new style.

At the after party, the group me Mikkelsen again for a short chat and a few more pictures. Time to brush up some old memories... One of the members of Double-0 Club, "Largo", is a stuntman and he worked with Mads Mikkelsen several years ago, in a short film where Mads had to get shot. On that same note, "Largo" has also performed as a stunt double for both Jesper Christensen and Ulrich Thomsen on other film productions. Ironically, eleven years ago - in the very same theatre as the Danish premiere of Casino Royale - "Largo" was on stage performing as 007 himself in an action-filled stunt and dance show for more than a thousand people, including Pierce Brosnan, at the Danish premiere of "Goldeneye". Brosnan actually came up afterwards to shake "Largo's" hand... But that was then...



For Double-0 Club, Casino Royale's premiere in Copenhagen came to an end after enjoying several hours of Vodka-Martinis, Bond talk, a nice jazz band performing Bond songs, and a lot of well dressed men and beautiful women, all having fun - Bond style... For Double-0 Club, it was an evening that will be fondly remembered for a long time.

Until then, keep an eye on Double-0 Club and their upcoming "Bond-trailer" on www.007jamesbond.dk

Many thanks to Klaus Hjule and Chleve Hansen, and the rest of the Double-O Club.

The views of this columnist and those expressed in this article are not necessarily those of mi6-hq.com or its owners.

James Bond's Latest German Villain

German actor Clemens Schick follows in a long tradition of German Bond foes. But unlike his predecessors, he's no longer 007's main enemy.

The 21st James Bond movie "Casino Royale" premiered in Berlin this week and so far the reviews are pretty positive. Although the action is set in the summer of 2006, the new movie is actually based on Ian Fleming's first Bond novel which tells of secret agent's 007's debut. His first mission sets him against a banker who launders money for international terrorism.



"Exciting, new and totally different!" Or is it?

But while some called the movie "exciting, new and totally different," it does have some familiar elements. By now the Bond formula is well-known -- there should be a good-looking lead with a poker-face, one or two stunning Bond Girls, some fast cars, state-of-the-art gadgets, and in more cases than not an evil-looking German rogue. "Casino Royale" is no exception.

Clemens Schick's German villain is not the main rogue in this latest film. The actor has admitted his role is only minor with only four lines. However, he hopes this role will propel him to international acclaim. The 34-year-old has already made a name for himself on the Berlin and Hanover stages and in small television roles.



A catalogue of German villains

The movie's big baddy Le Chiffre is played by the Danish actor Mads Mikkelson, who has roles in several releases this year. Schick plays Mikkelson's right-hand. As such he is an essential element and joins a long list of German villains.
The most despicable Bond villain has to be Goldfinger who was played by the German actor Gert Fröbe. Apparently reluctant to take the role at first, his wife spurred him on. He shot to fame.

In 1977, Roger Moore's Bond was pitted against Curd Jürgens' underwater patriarch Karl Stromberg in "The Spy Who Loved Me." And in the 1983 movie "Never Say Never Again", Bond's foe was the German-accented Maximilian Largo, played by Austrian Klaus Maria Brandauer.
Female Germans also got to play evil characters. Karin Dor as Helga Brandt in "You Only Live Twice" died a particularly gruesome death when her infamous boss, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, dropped her into a tank of piranhas. And Ilse Steppat played this latter's right-hand, Irma Blunt, in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."
Out of 21 Bond movies, about 10 of the scoundrels have been played by German or Austrian actors. Others have not been played by Germans but have implied German evil nonetheless, such as Dr. Carl Mortner in "A View to a Kill," a former concentration camp doctor whose real name is revealed to be Hans Glau.

Glamorous villains

These Bond villains are arguably a continuation of the tradition begun by the actor/director Erich von Strohheim, who exploited his role of the hostile German to the point of caricature. For a while after the World War II, German actors in Hollywood could only get roles as Nazis or Wehrmacht soldiers in war films.
This seemed feasible as long as the actors were exiles from the Nazi regime with their own agenda. But gradually, German actors chose not to take on these roles. Nonetheless, they did not seem to mind incarnating German evil as Bond villains -- perhaps because 007 movies are associated more with glamour, adventure and excitement than with war and the burden of history.

ROYAL WELCOME FOR CASINO ROYALE

Queen Elizabeth chats with Dame Judi Dench at the Royal Film Performance of Casino Royale on Nov 14.
Photo Buckingham Place Press Office

To the James Bond theme song, Daniel Craig, the newest Bond - and the first one who is a blond - walked the red carpet for the gala world premier at Leicester Square in London on November 14.

Craig, 38, is the sixth actor to play the super-spy after Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

Staged as a benefit for The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund of which Queen Elizabeth is patron, Her Magesty attended as did her husand, Prince Philip. As an aside, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh are set to visit the United States in May 2007 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement.

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the CTBF's biggest fundraising event, the whole of Leicester Square was taken over for the World Premiere of Casino Royale – this year’s chosen film.

The Queen meets the new James Bond, actor Daniel Craig.
Photo Buckingham Place Press Office

“We are turning Leicester Square into one vast multiplex cinema – taking over all three cinemas in the Square – The Odeon Leicester Square, The Odeon West End and the Empire. It is our biggest, most spectacular event so far,” said Peter Hore, Chief Executive of CTBF.

All three theatres were connected by red carpet and CCTV footage of the stars arriving were shown in all screens prior to the film. Around 4,500 people sat down and watched the World Premiere of the latest Bond movie simultaneously.

Buckingham Palace also marked the Royal Film Performance’s 60th Anniversary with a special themed Changing of the Guards on Thursday November 9th. A selection of classic Bond tunes was played by the Band of The Scots Guards.

The Dame Judi Dench, who plays M, the secret service head, has been busy this week. On Friday she turned on the Christmas lights in the Burlington Arcade, having arrived in a silver Austin Martin DB9 previously used in Bond flick Die Another Day.

At the Casino Royale premier, among those hobnobbing with the royals - in addition to Judi Dench - were; Daniel Craig and his fiancee Satsuki Mitchell, Italian Giancarlo Giannini, who stars as MI6 operative Mathis; Dame Shirley Bassey who has sung the title songs to three previous Bond films; Sir Elton John and his mate David Furnish; Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd, one of three Bond girls in the film; cast member Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen; Sting, actress Trudie Styler and their son Giacomo; singers Rachel Stevens and Sarah Harding, entrepreneur Richard Branson, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, Michelle Yeoh, who starred in 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, actress Caterina Murino, Sharon Osbourne, Jason Statham, Jerry Hall and Claudia Schiffer, American actor Jeffrey Wright and his wife British actress Carmen Ejogo, Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, Jay Kay of Jamiroquai, The Sugababes Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Keisha Buchanan - and Paris Hilton who isn't in the film but does attend most parties and Mohamed Al Fayed whose son, Dodi, was killed in the auto crash with Princess Diana. Harrods department store, owned by Al Fayed, decorated all 72 of its windows with a Casino Royale theme and is displaying an Aston Martin DBS car, as used in the movie.

In adhering to the old adage about never investing your own money, yet maintaining control, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson pulled off the impossible. They had approval of every major cast member, line of dialogue and ads had to receive their okay.

Prince Phillip meets the cast and crew members from Casino Royal including bad guy Mads Mikkelsen, Bond girl Eva Green and Daniel Craig.
Photo Buckingham Place Press Office

Coughing up the dough was Sony Pictures Entertainment which was obligated for 75% of the film's $150-million production cost, a $120-million worldwide marketing campaign and other related expenses. Sony must split profits with MGM, which financed 25% of the movie, and with the producers, who are guaranteed a huge chunk of the profit.

By the next morning both the producers and the production company were smiling.

Casino Royale raked in more at British box offices on its first day than any previous Bond film. The film took in about $3.2 million Thursday more than doubling the previous record holder, Die Another Day.

On the heels of big bucks at the box office, Chinese censors announced that Casino Royale will be permitted to be show in China - the first for a Bond film.

China usually only imports 20 foreign films a year and censors them carefully.

The movie will open in China on January 30. Casino Royale, based on the first of Ian Fleming's popular spy novels, opened in the US, Canada and Russia last Friday, November 17.

All funds raised from the World Premiere of Casino Royale will go to the CTBF, the unique trade charity of the film and television industries.