(From left to right)British actor Daniel Craig, French actress Eva Green and director Martin Campbell attend the premiere of the latest James Bond movie "Casino Royale" in Beijing, China on Monday, Jan. 29 2007. (Photo: xinhuanet.com) Photo Gallery>>>

British actor Daniel Craig(L) and French actress Eva Green attend the premiere of the latest James Bond movie "Casino Royale" in Beijing, China on Monday, Jan. 29 2007. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    By Bai Ying, Wang Cong

    BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The new James Bond, Daniel Craig, disappointed some Chinese fans here as he walked up the red carpet to attend Monday evening's Chinese premier of "Casino Royale", the first 007 movie ever to be officially released in China.

    The British actor along with Bond girl Eva Green, producers Michael Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and director Martin Campbell attended the premiere.

    Although Craig talked with foreign reporters and shook hands with others lining the red carpet, a number of fans were disappointed he didn't spend more time with them. The fact the actor doesn't speak Chinese seemed to matter little to his fans.

    "He disappointed me, I didn't get a greeting. All he did was look left, center and right in the direction of the cameras," Liu Tingting, a self-confessed Bond nut who said she intends to see Casino Royale, which will be the first Bond film she's seen in a movie theatre.

    Although none of the 20 other 007 films were officially released in China, "Bond is no stranger to Chinese audiences," said Weng Li, of the China Film Group Corporation, one of the movie's two distributors in China.

    Close to 500 copies of "Casino Royale" will be distributed across China beginning Tuesday, the most-ever for an imported film. The movie is expected to bring in 100 million yuan (12.8 million U.S. dollars).

    "The Da Vinci Code" with 105 million yuan and "King Kong" with 102 million yuan were the third and fourth top grossing films in China in 2006.

    The movie is reported to have already taken in over 540 million U.S. dollars at the box office, making it the top-grossing Bond film of all time.

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