Caffeinated Clint
Paul Haggis, penner of this year’s "Million Dollar Baby", has been tapped to rewrite looming 007 comeback, "Casino Royale".
Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who cut their teeth on Bond films "The World Is Not Enough" and "Die Another Day," wrote the previous draft, says The Hollywood Reporter.
The movie’s script is based on the 1953 Ian Fleming novel, which is the first, darkest and most violent of the Bond books. It introduced not only Bond, but the evil organization SMERSH, as well as model Bond villain Le Chiffre (French for "the number"). One of the book’s set pieces is a baccarat duel between Bond and Le Chiffre.
The book was first adapted as the 1967 spy spoof starring Peter Sellers, David Niven, Orson Welles and George Raft, although the comedy is not considered part of the Bond canon.
Haggis adapted James Bradley’s World War II book "Flags of Our Fathers" for director Clint Eastwood, currently filming in Iceland. Haggis is set to direct New Line Cinema’s "Honeymoon With Harry," which he adapted from a novel by Bart Baker, followed by Warner Bros. Pictures’ military true story "Death and Dishonor," based on a Playboy investigative piece about a career officer’s search for his soldier son, who went missing on his way home from the frontlines of Baghdad, which Haggis also will write and produce.
Faves to take on the role of Tux-adorned 007 as we speak include Goran Visnjic ["E.R"], Alex O’Lachlan ["The Oyster Farmer"] and Clive Owen ["Closer"].
