“Ling ling gi” (007 in Chinese) has finely made it to China.
British Actor Daniel Craig (L), French actress Eva Green (C) and New Zealand director Martin Campbell (R) pose for photographers at a hotel in Beijing prior to the premiere of the latest James Bond film 'Casino Royale', Monday 29 January 2007. Stars Daniel Craig, the new 'James Bond' and Eva Green, the new 'Bond girl' attended the premiere of 'Casino Royale,' the first Chinese premiere ever of a 007 film. The new James Bond film will open Wednesday in more than 1,000 theaters around the country, making 'Casino Royale' the biggest foreign film to ever open in China. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL
James Bond in ‘Casino Royale’ opened wide in China January 30th pulling in $1.5 million – 6% better than ‘The Da Vinci Code’ at its opening, which then went on to gross more than $13 million.
This is the first time in the 45 year old history of the 21 film Bond franchise that the British secret agent was seen on the big screen in China. The movie opened with original English Soundtrack with no censorship by the Chinese government.
No matter that poor quality pirated VCD/DVD versions of “Royale" have been available on China's streets for weeks, the movie is expected to be the biggest box-office grosser in China potentially taking in over $15 million.
Director Martin Campbell, producer Barbara Broccoli and stars Daniel Craig and Eva Green showed up on the red carpet to sign autographs and pose for the press at pic openings in Beijing and Shanghai.
Craig especially was given a warm welcome by Chinese fans yelling “Ling ling gi.”
Craig let on he was a big fan of Chinese movies saying, "I'd love to work with them ... I'm a huge Gong Li fan, I could happily watch Jet Li until I'm blue in the face."
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