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News on more Czech Republic shooting locations and confirmation of Barrandov Studios contract, plus Daniel craig speaks 007, and crew news updates...

Casino Royale Production Diary #2
23rd December 2005

Location, Location, Location
More news on Casino Royale shooting locations broke today through German newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. The paper, which is based in East Germany close to the border with the Czech Republic, reports on further locales for the 21st James Bond film shooting next year.

As MI6 first revealed back in October, the spa town of Karlovy Vary will be used for some location shooting of "Casino Royale". Today's report also includes details of production work for nearby towns Plana and Locket.

Above: The Mühlbrunnkolonnade.

Plana features a hospital complex that was closed down three years ago due to rising debts, but when the Bond production team move in, the local town will expect to receive around 700 Euros a day.

A local said, "coworkers of director Martin Campbell have already assessed the operating rooms and they are completely suitable for filming".

City councilor Michaela Mertlova confirmed that negotiations have been taking place but no firm deal deal had been down yet for 007 to work in the town, and went on to say that the locals would prefer the hospital to be open again, James Bond or not.

Further details were revealed about the filming in Karlovy Vary, with shooting to take place at the Mühlbrunnkolonnade and the Kaiserbad - which looks like it could provide the exterior of the titular casino.

Above: An early 1900's drawing of the Kaiserbad, and how it looks today.

The reports says that the city expects to earn 1000 Euros a day for the Bond team to shoot there, as well as a contractual stipulation that the town of Karlovy Vary is mentioned by name during the publicity campaign.

Back in the capital city Prague, the report claims that Eon Productions signed a contract to shoot in the famed Barrandov Studios a few days ago.

007 #6 Speaks
Daniel Craig broke his relative silence on his new 007 role this week to MTV. In a brief interview, Craig confirmed that the 21st 007 movie will actually be played out as if it's the first, with "Casino Royale" effectively becoming a reboot of the series.

When questioned about the nature of his earlier roles, Craig replied "James Bond is never working class. Paul Haggis has done a rewrite of the script and has written great dialogue. The lead girl part is fantastic, the characters are all fantastic. It's a Bond film. We're making a Bond movie first and foremost."

Naming "From Russia With Love" as his favorite series installment, the 37-year-old star said although director Martin Campbell will be returning from "GoldenEye," the forthcoming film will be unlike both those movies. "It's going to be very different from anything else ... it will have certain elements that will make it a Bond movie... The cars are newer too," Craig laughed. "There's a lot of similarities with the book but yes, of course it's been updated. It has to be. It's a suspension of disbelief that we're renewing Bond, and that this is the first time you see him."

Above: James Bond #6 - Daniel Craig

"Yes, I could fail miserably, but maybe I can do something that's different and make the franchise last another 30 years — as opposed to another three."

Fiat Fiasco
Some months back, rumours broke that the tiny Fiat Panda car would be featuring in Casino Royale. Whispers then circulated that a dozen cars had been earmarked for use in the forthcoming James Bond film. MI6 has heard from official Fiat sources that no such deal is in place, and there is no contract for the car to appear in the film. But, interestingly, two Fiat Panda's were delivered to the production at the request of Bond producers, and may still feature in the film at some point.

Above: The Fiat Panda Crossover

Further details on which model of car was delivered are not available, but it may be of note that Fiat recently announced their "cross-over" edition of the Panda 4x4, which will be released in Europe just months ahead of "Casino Royale".

Furthermore, Ford announced in September that they had signed an agreement with Fiat to jointly produce a new small car range using the Panda as the foundation. Ford currently hold an exclusive three-picture vehicle product placement licence with the 007 franchise, which started in 2002 with "Die Another Day".

Crew Updates
Matthew Stillman and David Minkowski have officially joined the Casino Royale team as co-producers. The pair are already at work in pre-production on the 21st James Bond film and will be heavily involved when production heads over to Prague in the Czech Republic.

As well as making shrewd business sense to shift a lot of the film to Prague as opposed to its expensive traditional home at Pinewood, not only will 007 be based in the same city as "Bourne" was (the films that "scared" Bond producers), but it will also share the same local production company. StillKing films confirmed earlier in the year that they will be operating as local co-producer for the work taking place in the Czech Republic. Shooting is expected to last 6 months, and will include location work in a small spa town called Karlovy Vary.

In other crew news, Paul Engelen returns to the Bond family as make-up designer, following his work on Die Another Day, Moonraker, The Spy Who Loved Me and The Man with the Golden Gun. Michael Solinger is also back in the fold as post-production supervisor, after Die Another Day, The World Is Not Enough and Tomorrow Never Dies. Dan Grace will be assisting costume designer Lindy Hemming as costume supervisor. He has previously worked on The World Is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies and GoldenEye. Richard Hooper is a newcomer to the franchise, and will be the supervising armourer.

Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli (Eon Productions) and directed by Martin Campbell, CASINO ROYALE is scheduled for release November 17, 2006. Principal photography will start on January 30th 2006, with locations in the UK, Czech Republic (Prague), Italy, and the Bahamas. It will be British actor Daniel Craig’s first outing as James Bond. He is the sixth actor to play the 007 role in the franchise.