So, how did Casino Royale go so entirely awry? It took five directors and an unknown number of screenwriters to marshal the production into some semblance of order, and was bedevilled by its star’s quixotic behaviour, its producer’s ill health and an ever-rising budget. The original film was one of the strangest and most chaotic farragoes in cinema, an all-star mishmash that alternated wildly between genres and tones. Yet while it could be billed as the first “proper” version of Casino Royale, this would ignore its frankly insane 1967 predecessor. For many, the most successful of these was either Skyfall or his debut in the role in 2006’s Casino Royale, which attracted critical praise for its tougher, stripped-back approach to the character, as well as its surprisingly faithful adaptation of the novel.
As audiences eagerly anticipate Daniel Craig’s swansong as James Bond in No Time To Die, there has been much discussion of his earlier appearances as 007.
