Studio gambles with "Casino Royale" and new Bond

Little wonder Craig was seen as such a risk to follow in the footsteps of Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Brosnan.

"It's huge," Craig told Reuters in August. "Of course there's concern, I'm only human. I want to get it right."

Reviewers across the board say director Martin Campbell has delivered on his promise to produce a darker Bond film, focusing more on character than gadgets.

The storyline has also been adapted to reflect current times, as James Bond's first mission leads him to Le Chiffre, now banker to the world's terrorists rather than the Soviet agent of the original 1953 Ian Fleming novel.