Simon Abkarian and Seydina Baldi signed to play Casino Royale villains

French actor Simon Abkarian was reported to have screentested for the role of the villain yesterday by AlloCine. Today French newspaper Le Parisien has confirmed he has been cast in the forthcoming James Bond film Casino Royale.

Movie site AlloCine reported Abkarian had screentested in London for the role of the villain Demetrius. Le Parisien has now confirmed that Abkarian was signed in favour of fellow French actor Michael Youn. The report also says that Romain Duris was first offered the part but turned down the role.



In other villain casting news, Le Parisien reports that Seydina Baldi - another French actor - has been signed up to play the villain's henchman in the movie. As well as his acting, Baldi is known for his martial arts skills.

Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli (Eon Productions) and directed by Martin Campbell, CASINO ROYALE is scheduled for release November 17, 2006. Principal photography will start on January 30th 2006, with locations in the UK, Czech Republic (Prague), Italy, and the Bahamas. It will be British actor Daniel Craig�s first outing as James Bond. He is the sixth actor to play the 007 role in the franchise.

Thanks to `Agent JM7` for the alert.

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