Secret Cinema has teased how it'll be immersing people into the world of James Bond for this year's huge Casino Royale experience.
The live cinema specialists are tackling the iconic franchise for the first time ever this summer, with new tickets going on sale today (January 25) after the first run of dates sold out. For the event, they have effectively been "creating the prequel" to Daniel Craig's 007 debut.
Taking inspiration from the movie which sees Bond investigate terrorist financier Le Chiffre, the production will see attendees recruited as part of 'Operation Wild Card' to help MI6 in a way that Bond can't.
"What we need is you, the audience, from outside the world of espionage. We’re reaching out to people who live outside that world and we’re creating 'Operation Wild Card'. We can operate properly under the wire. They won’t see you coming, they won’t expect you," creative director Angus Jackson told Digital Spy.
"You’ll be affiliated with us, MI6, and you can help us in a way that our own agents can’t. We’re all prequel, we’re all about what happens before the film begins. We are in fact creating the prequel to Casino Royale with our audience as the protagonists.
"We need you to turn up dressed to kill, dressed in a way that you can go and gamble millions of dollars in this casino and look like you’re completely at home."
Jackson added that Casino Royale made perfect sense as the first Bond movie for Secret Cinema to tackle because it's "the moment he becomes 007".
"With our audiences, what we’re saying is they come and their the central character in their own experience, they’re being invited to become something," he noted. "It feels very, very strong for Secret Cinema."
The production has seen the company work closely with Eon, director Martin Campbell and producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. "It’s a great working relationship with Eon, they’ve been incredibly supportive," senior producer Andrea Moccia told Digital Spy.
"With this one, we’ve brought together a really fresh and exciting new team. Under the tutelage of Fabien [Riggall, founder of Secret Cinema], we’re really keeping all the best bits of Secret Cinema and adding an extra theatrical layer to it."
As for what that production actually is, that's being kept a secret as is always the way with Secret Cinema, but Moccia teased that it takes place at the "biggest location that we've ever had".
Like with every Secret Cinema production, the audience members will also be written into the story on the night. Jackson is keen to ensure that every audience member's experience will be "surprising, whilst still being within the world of the film".
"You want a high level of recognition, but it not to be predictable. You end up trying to create experiences which make absolute perfect sense within the world, but that nobody could have anticipated," he reflected.
Secret Cinema Presents Casino Royale runs from June 5 until September 22, with tickets available from the official website.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
