French actress to be newest Bond girl

French actress Eva Green is set to follow in the alluring footsteps of Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman and Halle Berry as the newest "Bond girl."

Green, 25, has been selected to portray Vesper Lynd opposite the newest James Bond — British actor Daniel Craig — in the upcoming instalment, Casino Royale.

Green made her film debut in Bernardo Bertolucci's 2003 film The Dreamers and also appeared in the 2005 crusades drama Kingdom of Heaven.

Columbia Pictures made the announcement about Green on Thursday, shortly after director Martin Campbell confirmed that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen would portray the film's villain, Le Chiffre.

U.S. actor Jeffrey Wright, whose recent credits include Syriana, Broken Flowers, Lackawanna Blues and Angels in America, has also joined the cast as an undercover CIA agent named Felix Leiter.

Production on the upcoming 21st Bond film began in Prague in January but will also travel to other locales, including Italy, the U.K. and the Bahamas. The movie is set to hit theatres in November.

In the book version of Casino Royale, the first in author Ian Fleming's long-running series, British agent Bond and Le Chiffre match wits while playing high-stakes baccarat.