The year was 2002 and the 20th Bond film Die Another Day was a hit at theaters 40 years after Bond first picked up his Walther PPK in Dr. No.
There was much discussion about where to take the character. Many were in favor of bringing back Pierce Brosnan who had some early misgivings about returning for another Bond film, but instead the franchise decided to move in a new direction by allowing Die Another Day (which had paid homage to several of the previous films) to be the swan song of the old Bond flicks and reboot the entire franchise with a new rougher and less sophisticated Bond.
Daniel Craig beat out all of the other potential Bonds including Henry Cavill and Sam Worthington largely due to his roles in Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and as a Mossad agent in Munich.
Although many were unsure about the casting Craig quickly won over the doubters with a strong performance in Casino Royale. The actor has signed on to do a total of five Bond films, so we’ll see more of this Bond for years to come.
The rebooting of the franchise gives us James Bond (Daniel Craig) killing two men before the opening credits, thus cementing his Double-O staus. Although the film shows us Bond at the beginning of his career it takes place in the present creating a time paradox which only franchises like Highlander can truly comprehend. 007’s first mission leads him on the trail of a banker in need of cash after Bond stymies his attempt to make a profit on the destruction of a prototype airplane. Bond goes head to head with Le Chiffe (Mads Mikkelsen) in a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament (changed from Baccarat in the novel) at Casino Royale. We get two Bond Girls in this one, the ill-fated Solange (Caterina Murino) and the fellow agent Bond will fall hard for, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). We also get the introduction of a new secret organization of baddies (whose name we will learn in the next film is Quantum) though their agenda and agents, other than Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), remain a mystery. Not a bad reintroduction of the character and starting point for a new franchise.