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Reports from the Cannes Film Festival confirm that James Bond production of "Casino Royale" is heading to Prague...
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Casino Royale - April Report
6th April 2005
MI6 can confirm that final decisions on the future of the James
Bond role are being made this week in Los Angeles, USA. All of
the movers and shakers in the franchise are in LA to iron out
the final creases in the plan that will usher in 007 for "Casino
Royale". Big decisions are being finalized and news is sure to
break soon.
Traditionally, the announcement of a new James Bond would take
place in a top London Hotel, with invitations sent out to the
press the day before. With the final moves being made in LA, this
could change with Bond #6.
But as usual, the hype surrounding the franchise is being cooled
by official spokespersons. Following Daniel
Craig being "announced" by The Sun today, an Eon
spokesperson was quoted by the BBC as saying "We're waiting
for our director to finish the film he's currently working on.
Then I'm sure we'll be commenting a lot on all sorts of things."
Name That Bond
The guessing game has turned into tabloid warfare over the past
couple of weeks as the different media groups pick sides and place
their bets on who will be donning the tuxedo as 007 in "Casino
Royale".
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Above: The British press is split
between announcing Clive Owen and Daniel Craig as the sixth
James Bond 007.
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Rupert Murdoch's Carver-esque
media empire have backed
English actor Daniel Craig as 007 #6. His flagship newspaper
The Sun "exclusively" named Craig as officially taking on the
role with a three film contract. The paper was playing it safer
in February when it reported the decision was down
to Clive Owen and Daniel Craig, The paper also claimed that
Colin Salmon would be the first black James Bond last year.
Rival Mirror newspaper group are
backing Clive Owen to the hilt, announcing him as 007 #6 in
both the Sunday Mirror and Sunday Star over the weekend. The
Italian press beat them to it a day earlier though, with reports
based on comments Owen made at the Sin
City premiere in LA.
The other top candidate, Australian
actor Julian McMahon, who can't seem to get any newspaper
on his side at the moment, has gone on the record that he's in
the final mix and will accept the role if offered.
Meanwhile, other media outlets have flirted with the concept
of Pierce
Brosnan returning to the fold since Sony can afford his high
price tag and may not want to risk the box-office with a lesser
known name. US television show Entertainment
Tonight poured scorn on such talk saying producers had informed
them that Brosnan would not be coming back.
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From Prague With Love
In other "Casino Royale" news, the production
is heading outside the UK. As MI6 reported back in September
last year, the Bond production team made scouting trips
to the Czech Republic for potential locations. Prague was
then rumoured as a potential base for the production of
"Casino Royale" (then "Bond 21"), rather than 007's traditional
home of Pinewood Studios in the UK.
MI6 can reveal that "Casino Royale" director Martin Campbell,
whose debut 007 outing "GoldenEye" was shot at an abandoned
Rolls Royce factory at Leavesdon Aerodrome because of lack
of availability at Pinewood, will now be heading to Prague
to helm his second film. The last Bond film to head abroad
for production was Timothy Dalton's final outing, "Licence
To Kill" in 1989, which shot in Churubusco Studios in Mexico
City for tax reasons.
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Above: 007 production will be moving
to Prague for "Casino Royale". |
"Casino Royale", directed
by Martin Campbell, has a tentative
release date of November 17th 2006. Shooting is expected to
start in January/February 2006.
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