Movie Spotlight - Casino Royale

Casino Royale
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Bond, James Bond.

Those three words are arguably the most famous ever uttered on film, and along with the iconic theme song are all that are needed to convince millions of people worldwide to go to the movies. However, this time around there are some issues that complicate matters, the most important being a new actor taking over the role.

Daniel Craig's first outing as the super spy will be obsessively followed by the franchise's legion of fans. We'll take a look at the box office performance of the "James Bond Transition Movies," and review the history of actors playing the world's most famous secret agent.

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James Bond in Transition

James Bond Transition Movies
Released	Movie	James Bond	US Gross	Change from previous	World Gross	Change from previous
5/8/1963	Dr. No	Sean Connery	$16,100,000	n/a	$59,600,000	n/a
12/18/1969	On Her Majesty's Secret Service	George Lazenby	$22,800,000	-47%	$82,000,000	-27%
12/17/1971	Diamonds Are Forever	Sean Connery	$43,800,000	+92%	$116,000,000	+41%
6/27/1973	Live and Let Die	Roger Moore	$35,400,000	-19%	$161,800,000	+39%
7/31/1987	The Living Daylights	Timothy Dalton	$51,185,000	+2%	$191,200,000	+25%
11/17/1995	Goldeneye	Pierce Brosnan	$106,429,941	+207%	$353,400,000	+126%
11/17/2006	Casino Royale	Daniel Craig	-	n/a	-	n/a

This is not the first time a new actor has taken over the role of James Bond. In fact, there have been five previous actors to don the tuxedo and order their martinis shaken, not stirred (not counting David Niven's role in the 1967 spoof version of Casino Royale). The first time this happened was back in 1969 when George Lazenby took the role for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, replacing Sean Connery. To say the transition wasn't a smooth one is an understatement. Ticket sales were cut in half domestically, and, while it did better internationally, it was still down. Reaction by fans was even worse and some do not consider the film part of the James Bond canon. (My personal opinion, the movie was excellent, but then again, how could anything with Diana Rigg not be.) The end result was a quick change back to Sean Connery in Diamonds are Forever, for which he was paid a record $1.2 million plus 12.5% of the gross.

The third man to play Bond was Roger Moore, who before picking up his Walther PPK was best know as Simon Templar, a.k.a. The Saint. Live and Let Die wasn't able to earn as much as the average Sean Connery film, at least not domestically. Internationally it was the biggest hit to date, and except for The Man With the Golden Gun, Roger Moore's reign was one smash hit after the next.

However, seven films and more than a decade later the studio felt it was time for a change, which came in the form of Timothy Dalton who took over the role for The Living Daylights. Unfortunately, the two films he appeared in were what many consider the low point for the series creatively and while internationally the films were still huge hits, it was clear that the series needed a break to reinvent itself.

It was six years later, easily the longest gap between films since the franchise first started, that the re-launch took place. The film was Goldeneye and the new Bond was Pierce Brosnan, who coincidentally was slated to take over the role nearly a decade earlier when contractual obligations prevented him from doing so. Any doubts about the relevance of the franchise ended on opening weekend when Goldeneye nearly doubled the previous best opening weekend. It then went on to become the first film in the franchise to crack $100 million domestically and $200 million internationally. Throughout the Pierce Brosnan run the films kept getting bigger and better, bigger being the key word. Die Another Day ended its run with over $450 million worldwide and in the top 40 on the All-Time charts (it has since been knocked back more than a dozen places). However, it also cost more than $140 million. In fact, it cost nearly as much as all seven Roger Moore films combined. This may have been a factor when it came to deciding to replace Pierce Brosnan.

After a long search, the actor they choose was Daniel Craig, a choice that has not been greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm. In fact, petitions and websites sprang up to convince the studio to go with someone else. Complaints ranged from him being too short, too blonde, not manly enough, not 'pretty' enough, that he was scared of guns, was scared of water, couldn't drive a stick, got two of his teeth punched out during filming, etc. Most of these complaints were fallacious, or outright lies in the case of the last few, but that didn't stop the calls for a boycott. Will this adversely affect the film's box office potential? Probably. But not by enough to make a real difference. As for those who think Daniel Craig can't play Bond, I suggest they check out Layer Cake. Granted, he wasn't a secret agent in that movie. In fact, he was on the other side of the law. However, the film allowed him to showcase all of the skills he will need to portray Bond. (On a side note, regardless of your current opinion of Daniel Craig, you should check out Layer Cake anyway. It had one of the best endings of any movie I saw that year.)

So, while there are some question marks regarding the latest installment of the franchise, there are still many more reasons to be optimistic. In fact, the studio is so optimistic they've already started production on the next James Bond flick. Can't wait.

- C.S.Strowbridge