14/11/2006

London’s Leicester Square will be on high security alert tonight, not because of terrorist threats but for the world premiere of the 21st adventure of the world’s most famous spy, 007, to be attended by HM The Queen in person.

Around 4,500 VIPs and a happy few will simultaneously see the world premiere of the latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale, as all of Leicester Square will be taken over for this exceptional 60th Royal Film Performance, a unique charity event organised by the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF) to help film and TV personnel in times of hardship.

Nearly 500,000 pounds were raised for the CTBF from Die Another Day in 2002, and again last year with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Peter Hore, Chief Executive of the CTBF, said: “It is wonderful that such a highly anticipated film should mark our diamond jubilee year. We are turning Leicester Square into one vast multiplex cinema, taking over all three cinemas in the Square (the Odeon Leicester Square, Odeon West End and the Empire). It is our biggest, most spectacular event so far. All three cinemas will be connected by a red carpet and CCTV footage of the stars arriving will be shown in all the cinemas prior to the film”.

The first public screening will take place right after the world premiere at 11:30 pm tonight. Then tomorrow night, 36 regional charity premieres will be held for Casino Royale’s UK rollercoaster while across the channel, director Martin Campbell and Italian actress Caterina Murino (one of the new Bond girls) will attend the Belgian premiere of the film at Brussels’ Kinepolis Cinema.

Thursday, French actress Eva Green (who plays Bond’s chief love interest) will be in Amsterdam’s historic Tuschinski Cinema for the Dutch premiere of the film, as several million Bond fans are expected to flood into UK, Czech, Greek and Russian cinemas for the film’s official release on November 16 through Sony Pictures.

Other major territories to open include the US/Canada (November 17), France (November 22), Germany (November 23), and Spain (November 24), with Italy and Switzerland being the latest ones to release the film, on January 5, 2007.