 Casino Royale ( 2006 ) is the 21st film in the Eon Productions James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond . Directed by Martin Campbell and written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and Paul Haggis , the film marks the third screen adaptation of Ian Fleming 's 1953 novel of the same name . Casino Royale is set at the beginning of Bond 's career as Agent 007 , just as he is earning his licence to kill . After preventing a terrorist attack at Miami International Airport , Bond falls in love with Vesper Lynd , the treasury employee assigned to provide the money he needs to bankrupt a terrorist financier , Le Chiffre , by beating him in a high @-@ stakes poker game . The story arc continues in the following Bond film , Quantum of Solace ( 2008 ) , with explicit references to characters and events in Spectre ( 2015 ) . 
