Obanno, furious that his money was lost, threatens Le Chiffre, but allows him to continue playing to win back the money. Bond loses his $10 million stake after Le Chiffre is tipped off about his own tell. Vesper refuses to authorize an additional $5 million for Bond to continue, but fellow player and CIA agent Felix Leiter stakes Bond the money in exchange for letting the CIA arrest Le Chiffre. Le Chiffre's lover, Valenka, poisons Bond's drink but Vesper rescues him. Le Chiffre kidnaps Vesper to trap Bond and takes them to an abandoned ship. He tortures Bond to reveal the password to the bank account holding his winnings, but Bond resists. Mr. White bursts in and kills Le Chiffre, but spares Bond and Vesper.
Mads Mikkelsen had been selected to play villain Le Chiffre long before his work schedule had allowed him to commit to the role. The announcements were confirmed to the press, along with Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter, on February 16th 2006, some two weeks since filming began. Principal photography for Casino Royale commenced on January 30th 2006 and began - for the first time in franchise’s history - without a villain or leading lady. Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron were both "strongly considered" for the role of Vesper before the casting net discovered French actress Eva Green. With the Sony Pictures lead consortium taking over MGM in 2005, the casting of Daniel Craig as 007 was stalled as the producers were asked to widen their search before the studio would sign off on their selection. Over 200 actors were tested from around the world until - finally - on October 14th 2005, Daniel Craig was officially unveiled as the sixth actor to play 007. The road to Casino Royale began in March 2004 when scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade ("The World Is Not Enough" – 1999, "Die Another Day" – 2002) began work on the screenplay.