James Bond faces castration in the 21st 007 movie Casino Royale, the director has revealed.

Martin Campbell says at one point in the movie KGB agent Le Chiffre captures Bond and tries to torture information out of him by threatening his manhood.

The scene where Bond is at the very brink of castration "ranks up there with the teeth-drilling scene in Marathon Man," says Campbell referring to the famous scene in the 1976 Sir Laurence Olivier and Dustin

Hoffman movie adding that he's not sure yet how they will film it.

Campbell, who is finishing The Legend of Zorro - the sequel to The Mask of Zorro - tells the New York Daily News that Casino Royale based on the first Bond adventure written by Ian Fleming in 1953 will be grittier and more realistic than previous Bond movies.

He said, "We'll be getting away from the huge visual effects kind of films. In the new film Bond is essentially starting out in his career and has just recently become part of the double 0-section.

"The idea is to put a bit of the dash back in Bond. By the end of the movie the character will have been forged into the wiser, harder Bond we know."

In the novel Bond falls in love with Vesper Lynd, the agent assigned to help him defeat Le Chiffre, but Lynd is a double agent and Bond's world is shattered.

"The door is open for Bond emotionally. I'm looking to humanise Bond a bit," added Campbell.

The role of Bond has yet to be confirmed after the departure of Pierce Brosnan although unconfirmed reports say Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai is set to play a Bond girl.

Source: Press Release