12 Movie Casting Decisions That Fans Couldn't Handle

12. Daniel Craig - James Bond (Casino Royale)

When MGM announced that Daniel Craig would be the new James Bond back in October 2005, fans were nothing short of incensed.

With rumours suggesting that the more traditionally Bond-y likes of Clive Owen, Dougray Scott, Hugh Jackman, Henry Cavill and Karl Urban were in talks for the part, Craig's casting came majorly out of left-field.

The tabloids quickly dubbed him "James Blond" due to his lighter hair colour than is traditional for 007, while fans also complained about other superficialities, such as Craig's relatively short stature and his more square-faced appearance compared to previous Bonds.

Between this and the inherent riskiness of MGM rebooting the Bond franchise post-Die Another Day, many fans were convinced that Casino Royale would mark a new low for a franchise with its fair share of them.

Did It Work Out?: Absolutely. Anyone who'd seen Craig in Matthew Vaughn's Layer Cake knew he could pull it off, and the actor acquitted himself terrifically with a hard-edged, brutal, psychological Bond like the franchise had never seen before.

Some went as far as to praise Craig's performance as the finest since the Connery days, and regardless of where he ranks among Bonds for you personally, there's no denying that the fan hand-wringing was totally off-base.