Bond, From the Beginning?
James Bond film, is now online at www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale.
Daniel Craig takes over the role of Bond for the first time, and Mads Mikkelsen
is the villain Le Chiffre.
Casino Royale was Ian Fleming’s first
James Bond novel. Published in 1953, it introduced the British secret agent with
a license to kill and set the groundwork for what was to become a multi-media
franchise that has endured for more than four decades.
As a film, the
title has an odd history that until recently did not fit in with the
long-running film series of which it is now a part.
James Bond first
appeared on the small screen when Fleming’s novel was loosely adapted as an
episode of Climax Mystery Theater, which aired October 21,1954. Actor
Barry Nelson played Bond with Peter Lorre portraying Le
Chiffre.
Following on the heals of the exaggerated Bond send-ups Our
Man Flint (James Coburn as Derek Flint) and The Silencers (Dean
Martin in Matt Helm), producer Charles K. Feldman launched a comedy version of
Casino Royale in 1967, which featured an aging James Bond (David Niven)
replaced by a series of other operatives, all code-named James Bond 007
(including Peter Sellers) fighting Doctor Noah, who turned out to be nephew
Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen), and Le Chiffre (Orson Welles). Bond fans are largely
dismissive of the movie, though it is worth noting that David Niven was the
original choice of Ian Fleming for the role of Bond in the regular film
series.
The film series that started with Sean Connery as Bond in Dr. No
in 1962 was developed by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R.
“Cubby” Broccoli for United Artists.
Feldman acquired the
Casino Royale rights from the TV producers and tried put together a
series film featuring Connery in conjunction with Saltzman and Brocolli. After
that failed, he turned it into a spoof and the film was released through
Columbia Pictures.
Sony Pictures, which acquired the rights, announced
their intent to make a serious Casino Royale in the 1990s. After years of
legal wrangling with MGM, which was by then the owner of United Artists, the
project was shelved (in a trade widely said to have brought MGM’s partial
Spider-Man rights to Sony).
In 2004, Sony and Comcast acquired
United Artists, giving them the rights to do Bond movies after all. Casino
Royale was the first 007 film announced after that.
Popular Topics
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Bond, From the Beginning?
James Bond film, is now online at www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale.
Daniel Craig takes over the role of Bond for the first time, and Mads Mikkelsen
is the villain Le Chiffre.
Casino Royale was Ian Fleming’s first
James Bond novel. Published in 1953, it introduced the British secret agent with
a license to kill and set the groundwork for what was to become a multi-media
franchise that has endured for more than four decades.
As a film, the
title has an odd history that until recently did not fit in with the
long-running film series of which it is now a part.
James Bond first
appeared on the small screen when Fleming’s novel was loosely adapted as an
episode of Climax Mystery Theater, which aired October 21,1954. Actor
Barry Nelson played Bond with Peter Lorre portraying Le
Chiffre.
Following on the heals of the exaggerated Bond send-ups Our
Man Flint (James Coburn as Derek Flint) and The Silencers (Dean
Martin in Matt Helm), producer Charles K. Feldman launched a comedy version of
Casino Royale in 1967, which featured an aging James Bond (David Niven)
replaced by a series of other operatives, all code-named James Bond 007
(including Peter Sellers) fighting Doctor Noah, who turned out to be nephew
Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen), and Le Chiffre (Orson Welles). Bond fans are largely
dismissive of the movie, though it is worth noting that David Niven was the
original choice of Ian Fleming for the role of Bond in the regular film
series.
The film series that started with Sean Connery as Bond in Dr. No
in 1962 was developed by producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R.
“Cubby” Broccoli for United Artists.
Feldman acquired the
Casino Royale rights from the TV producers and tried put together a
series film featuring Connery in conjunction with Saltzman and Brocolli. After
that failed, he turned it into a spoof and the film was released through
Columbia Pictures.
Sony Pictures, which acquired the rights, announced
their intent to make a serious Casino Royale in the 1990s. After years of
legal wrangling with MGM, which was by then the owner of United Artists, the
project was shelved (in a trade widely said to have brought MGM’s partial
Spider-Man rights to Sony).
In 2004, Sony and Comcast acquired
United Artists, giving them the rights to do Bond movies after all. Casino
Royale was the first 007 film announced after that.
Popular Topics
Overstreet Access Quick Links
