Matthew Vaughn admits he once thought he was directing 'Casino Royale'

"Layer Cake" director Matthew Vaughn, who is out promoting his upcoming spy movie "Kingsman: The Secret Service", has told a magazine that once thought he was directing "Casino Royale".

"I had a lot of meetings on Casino Royale," he reveals of the Bond that got away, exclusively in the new issue of Empire (out Thursday, June 25).

"So much so that the head of MGM offered me it. I had a 24-hour period where I thought I was directing Casino Royale." The whole experience was, he understates, "a bit of a downer".

Back in 2005, after Bond 21 went to Martin Campbell and became "Casino Royale", Vaughn told reporters that he was planning his own take on the spy genre. "It's going to be very cool and take a long time to write but we've nearly finished the treatment. It's an original script and we're going to do all the things that you can't do in any mainstream spy movie. We're going to try to reinvent the whole spy franchise."

It appears that Vaughn has finally got there with "Kingsman: The Secret Service", almost 10 years in the making.

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