Matthew Vaughn famously became the director of Daniel Craig’s 2006 film Casino Royale for 24 hours. This was the first James Bond installment with Craig in the lead, and as one of the most highly-anticipated movies of that year, it was helmed by none other than the great Martin Campbell.
At the time, Vaughn was still a rookie director who got lucky when he was offered a chance to spearhead a movie franchise as massive as James Bond. Despite initial doubts, he agreed to the project, but a lot of things happened over a lunch meeting, and in the end, he was immediately dismissed even before he started.
Matthew Vaughn On Directing Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale For One Day
In his interview with Josh Horowitz via Happy Sad Confused podcast, director Matthew Vaughn recalled the time he was offered to lead Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale after its original director left the project.
“I was nervous because I was just thinking that would ruin my – there’s nothing worse if you’re a producer and you have a goal directing and it’s terrible, then you’ve lost all respect of any other director. But, something in my gut was saying, ‘You should do it.’ ”
He ultimately accepted the offer and went on the set with the cast to get a feel of the production. As a newbie director, he still had a lot to learn about the ropes of filmmaking. In one instance, he shockingly admitted:
“When I made the movie, I knew nothing. I mean the first day of filming, I remember looking through the lens, seeing Daniel, and without thinking, I looked up to him and went, ‘Oh I’ve never done – I’ve never looked through a lens before,’ and then I looked back down, and all I saw is sheer horror on Daniel’s face.”
Indeed, the English actor was horrified to know he would be working with a neophyte filmmaker on a James Bond film. It definitely sounded like a nightmare. In the end, Vaughn was dismissed, and Martin Campbell took over the project.
Matthew Vaughn Still Did Not Know Why He Was Dropped From Casino Royale
In the same conversation with Josh Horowitz, Matthew Vaughn revealed how he became the director of Casino Royale for a day. He noted there was a lot of confusion involved that up to this day was never resolved.
“It was a really weird time when I got a phone call saying, ‘Would you be interested in meeting about doing Casino Royale?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god, yes, I would.’ So I had this. I read the book again and went and met with them. We all got on, actually, I thought, really well. And then, welcome to Hollywood, I got a phone call from MGM saying, ‘You’ve got the gig, don’t tell anyone.’ And like okay, I get it.”
They talked over a meeting about the movie, and he suggested casting Daniel Craig; surprisingly, they did not want the actor. Then, he had another lunch meeting, and at the end of the day, he was fired.
“Then I had the lunch, I had the meetings, and at the end of it, I wasn’t offered it. So I went home thoroughly confused, and I rang up the chairman of MGM. And I said, ‘What’s going on?’ And they said, ‘Ah, we spoke too soon, you ain’t got it. And we’re going to cast Daniel.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, okay.’ I probably said so many things wrong at lunch.”
Despite Vaughn not getting the job, he went on to helm his own Kingsman franchise. Craig’s career also set off after his spectacular performance in Casino Royale.
Casino Royale is available to stream via Amazon Prime and Apple TV.
