Earlier this week we brought you some comments from Skyfall director Sam Mendes stating that he thinks the upcoming Spectre will likely be his final Bond movie, and now the Oscar-winning filmmaker has been discussing his initial reaction to hearing the news that Daniel Craig had been cast as 007 for the franchise’s 2006 relaunch Casino Royale – revealing that he thought it was a “terrible idea”.
“I had cast Daniel Craig in this film I made in Chicago called Road To Perdition about 15 years ago, and it was his first big American film. The role of Bond came up four or five years later and I was called by Entertainment Weekly, a showbiz publication, and they said ‘your old friend and collaborator Daniel Craig has been suggested as Bond, what do you think?’ and I said ‘terrible idea – he shouldn’t do it’. For me at the time I thought Bond had become the opposite of what Daniel is – a slightly disengaged, urbane jokey eyebrow-raising, you know, a pastiche in a way, and I felt Daniel’s reality and his passion and honesty as an actor would not work. But of course the franchise adapted to work with Daniel and when I saw Casino Royale, I thought it was a fantastic piece of casting. And it was that that got me re-interested in Bond as a movie.”
We’ll get our next glimpse of Craig’s 007 tomorrow when the second trailer for Spectre arrives online.
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SEE ALSO: The women of Spectre featured in new images, second trailer arriving tomorrow
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
Spectre is set for release in the UK on October 23rd in the UK and November 6th in the States. The film sees Sam Mendes (Skyfall) directing Bond veterans Daniel Craig as James Bond, Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes as M and Jesper Christensen as Mr. White, alongside franchise newcomers Andrew Scott (Pride) as Denbigh, Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour) as Madeleine Swann, Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Mr. Hinx, Monica Bellucci (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) as Lucia Sciarra, Stephanie Sigman (The Bridge) as Estrella and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) as Oberhauser.
https://youtu.be/5zpb9S9uD1s?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published July 21, 2015. Updated March 1, 2020.
