Casino Royale was
Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. It was the only one not sold to Eon Productions. As a result, CBS TV first adapted it for an episode of
"Climax!" (1954) in 1954, starring
Barry Nelson as CIA agent Jimmy Bond. When plans began to adapt the novel as a motion picture, the original thought was to do a straight film of the novel. But with the success of
Sean Connery's Bond, it was decided the only way a rival Bond film could survive would be as a parody. The
Peter Sellers sequence is the only part of Ian Fleming's novel to make it into the film. The confrontation with Le Chiffre in the casino, the plan to discredit Le Chiffre with SMERSH and the villain's execution by enemy agents are all in the novel. So is the notion of Bond writing a book on baccarat, and the element of Vesper being an enemy spy.
) and Jessica Simpson (Dukes of Hazzard 
) are in the running.