How Casino Royale Saved James Bond

Casino Royale is revered for many reasons, check out my analysis on how the film saves and revitalized the Bond franchise for a new audience. From Wikipedia: Casino Royale is a 2006 spy thriller film, the twenty-first in the James Bond series by Eon Productions, the third screen adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1953 novel of the same name, and the first to star Daniel Craig as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The second entry in the film series to be directed by Martin Campbell, Casino Royale's screenplay was written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis; the film co-stars Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench and Jeffrey Wright. In the film, Bond is on a mission to bankrupt the terrorism financier Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen) in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. Following Die Another Day (2002), Eon decided to reboot the franchise, attempting to provide a realistic and darker exploration of a less experienced and more vulnerable Bond. Casting involved a widespread search for a new actor to succeed Pierce Brosnan as Bond; the choice of Craig, announced in October 2005, initially proved controversial. Principal photography took place in the Bahamas, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, with interior sets built at Pinewood Studios and Barrandov Studios, from January to July 2006. The film features primarily practical stuntwork as opposed to the computer-generated placements seen in other Bond films. Casino Royale premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square on 14 November 2006, and was theatrically released first in the United Kingdom on 16 November, and in the United States a day later, by Sony Pictures Releasing under the Columbia Pictures banner. The film received critical acclaim, with praise for Craig's reinvention of the character and the departure from the tropes of previous Bond films. It grossed over $616 million worldwide, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2006 and the highest-grossing James Bond film until the release of Skyfall (2012). A sequel, Quantum of Solace, was released in 2008.