Daniel Craig’s Best James Bond Movie Shoots Down Streaming Competition

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Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).

While the search for Daniel Craig's replacement as James Bond continues, audiences seem to be revisiting his movies at home. This week, Craig's debut film as Agent 007, Casino Royale, witnessed a sudden jump in viewership. The movie was released in 2006, which means that it's nearing its 20th anniversary. Casino Royale was widely acclaimed, defying pre-release skepticism around Craig's casting to earn more than $600 million at the global box office and land him a Best Actor nod at the BAFTAs. For many, it remains his best film as the suave British spy, although others might consider Skyfall to be right up there. The movie was also responsible for making Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green household names across the globe, while successfully ushering Bond into the 21st century.

According to FlixPatrol, Casino Royale was among the most-watched movies on the domestic Apple TV charts this week, when the leaderboard was topped by Predator: Badlands. The film was directed by Martin Campbell, who'd previously directed Pierce Brosnan's debut as Bond, GoldenEye. Produced on a reported budget of $150 million, Casino Royale emerged as the top-grossing Bond movie of all time until then, with a total global box office haul of over $605 million. It was also acclaimed for presenting a more grounded version of the spy, who was widely thought to have jumped the shark some years ago with the later Brosnan films. Campbell was tasked with making the decades-old character relevant to audiences who had appreciated the gritty Jason Bourne movies, starring Matt Damon. And he delivered, thanks in no small part to Craig's emotionally rooted performance.

James Bond Is Being Rebooted by Denis Villeneuve

The movie is now sitting at a "certified fresh" 94% critics' score and a 90% audience score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Casino Royale disposes of the silliness and gadgetry that plagued recent James Bond outings, and Daniel Craig delivers what fans and critics have been waiting for: a caustic, haunted, intense reinvention of 007." Craig returned for four more movies as Bond — Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time to Die. The franchise was subsequently sold to Amazon and will be rebooted for the big screen by director Denis Villeneuve and writer Steven Knight.

You can watch Casino Royale at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.