Daniel Craig’s first James Bond movie is coming back to the big screen.
The official James Bond account announced Monday that Casino Royale returns to theaters worldwide in October for its 20th anniversary: “To celebrate its 20th anniversary, CASINO ROYALE returns to the big screen worldwide.”
The poster carries the Amazon MGM Studios and Park Circus logos, the distributor that handles classic-film theatrical runs. Some theater listings already show dates in early October.
Reports around the re-release say the movie has been given a new 4K restoration scanned from the original negative, along with a remixed audio track.
The Last Time Bond Was Recast
Casino Royale is the movie that ended the last Bond casting war.
Craig was announced as 007 in October 2005, and the reaction was ugly. Fans called him “James Blond,” said he was too short and too rough-looking for the part, and a boycott site sprang up before a frame was shot.
Then the movie opened in November 2006, pulled in $606 million worldwide, and the complaints stopped. Craig went on to play Bond for 15 years across five movies.
Debbie McWilliams, the casting director who helped find Craig, pointed to exactly that story last month when she rejected the current crop of rumored frontrunners. Her argument is that Bond should come out of nowhere, the way Craig did.
Bond Returns To Theaters While Amazon Picks The Next One
Now look at the calendar.
Casino Royale hits theaters in October. Per Puck News’ Matt Belloni, screen tests for the next Bond are happening later this fall, with test deals already going out.
Gary Oldman says the choice has already been made but not announced. Bond writer Steven Knight refused to deny it.
And producer Amy Pascal has said a casting announcement by the end of the year is “a good bet.”
So Amazon is putting the start of the Craig era back on big screens worldwide in the same window it reportedly settles on his successor.
Twenty years ago, the pick nobody wanted became the Bond nobody wanted to leave. That’s the bar the next guy walks in under.
