Daniel Craig confirmed publicly that he would star once again in a James Bond film scheduled to be released on 2019. This will be his 5th outing as Agent 007.
Craig made the confirmation in “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” when the show's host directly asked him. He replied yes and added that couldn’t be happier. The Bond actor revealed that plans for his return have been in the works for the past couple of months.
However, Craig also said that he felt this will be his last outing as James Bond. “I think this is it,” he told Colbert. He added that he just wanted to go out on a high note.
It was not the first time though that Daniel Craig said that his next Bond film would be his last. He basically made the same statement in 2015 after making Spectre. He was quoted to have said he “rather break this glass and slash my wrists” when asked if he will return for another film.
Craig returning for the 25th Bond film
Craig's confirmation in Stephen Colbert’s show put to rest speculations that he will not be returning to the Bond franchise. Last July, it was announced that the release date for the 25th James Bond film is November 2019. But no cast was mentioned during the announcement.
Sources by the New York Times, however, told the newspaper that Daniel Craig is still part of the franchise.
But Craig did not confirm the report instead he told radio interviewers that no decisions had been made just yet. The actor said that he was not trying to be coy, but he wanted only to stay out of the noise during that time.
But during the Colbert interview, Craig admitted that he had been “quite cagey” about the situation.
He said that he had been “rather coy” when asked about his return to the Bond franchise during his previous interviews.
He told Colbert that “I felt like if I was going to speak the truth, I should speak truth to you.”
Actors rumored to play Bond
When it was not yet clear if Daniel Craig is returning as James Bond, there were speculations as to who will replace him in the franchise.
Actors mentioned included Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston and Aidan Turner. There were even suggestions that the next Agent 007 might be played by a woman, particularly Gillian Anderson.
Idris Elba denied that he would be the next Bond and said he was probably the most famous Bond actor who never actually played the role.
Daniel Craig was the 6th actor to play the MI6's Agent 007 following Pierce Brosnan. In a comparison made by the BBC of all Bond actors, Craig ranked a close second to the original James Bond, Sean Connery among critic picks. He ranked 3rd behind Connery and Roger Moore regarding total box office earnings after adjusting the figures for inflation.
