Daniel Craig’s James Bond movies have always been marked out by a grittier, more grounded tone than their predecessors, and this all started with 2006’s Casino Royale, which gave 007 something of a Bourne-esque makeover. But nearly 15 years since the film came out, fans will get to see a slightly different cut of the movie that will be even more violent than the one they’re used to.
Fandango’s Phil Nobile Jr. has revealed that HBO Max is set to release a “slightly longer” version of Casino Royale than the cut that was shown in U.S. theaters. Back in the day, certain edits were made in some territories, including the U.S., to the film’s action scenes to get it down to a PG-13 rating. Don’t expect a massively different, Justice League type of situation here, then, but Bond lovers will still want to check out the pic when it eventually goes back up on the streaming service in its new form.
https://twitter.com/PhilNobileJr/status/1276375868491907073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Casino Royale was Craig’s first turn as the super-spy, serving as a major relaunch of the franchise four years after Pierce Brosnan last played the part in Die Another Day. It went back to basics for Bond, adapting Ian Fleming’s original novel featuring the character. Mads Mikkelsen played Le Chiffre, a terrorist financier Bond had to beat at a high-stakes poker tournament and Eva Green took the role of Vesper Lynd, one of the rare women to steal 007’s heart.
Craig’s tenure at MI6 comes to a close this year in No Time To Die, his long-awaited fifth and final outing in the Aston Martin, co-starring Lea Seydoux, Ana de Armas, Ben Whishaw, Jeffrey Wright, Ralph Fiennes, Lashana Lynch, Naomie Harris and Rami Malek as Bond’s latest foe, Safin. Assuming plans don’t change further, you can catch it in cinemas from November 12th (UK) or November 20th (US).
Tell us, though, do you like the sounds of an extended cut of Casino Royale? Join the conversation in the comments section down below.
