20 Things You Didn’t Know About Casino Royale (2006)
14. “And You Must Be Mr Bliss’s Replacement...”
In the finished film, M tells James Bond that he will be replacing syndicate member, Mr Bliss who has been invited to the high stakes Texas Hold ‘Em poker game that Le Chiffre has arranged at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. No further explanation is given as to how this is possible.
However, prior to meeting Vesper Lynd aboard the Adriatic Express, Double-0 Seven was to have entered Bliss’s compartment with three MI6 colleagues to chloroform him whilst he was reviewing footage of his competitors in the poker game. Actor and musician, Con O’Neill had been cast in the role, but the scene was cut due to the film’s lengthy running time.
Despite this, Bond confronted Jonathan Bliss and his drug-dealing cohorts onboard the train after first meeting Vesper in the Casino Royale segment of the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PC adaptations of Quantum of Solace (2008).
The game’s version of Bliss was based on Marc Forster, the director of Quantum of Solace, and he was killed in a tussle with Double-0 Seven atop the express during a drug trade.