At one time, Daniel Craig said that he would rather "slash my wrists" than play James Bond in a movie again. The reason that Craig was reluctant to return as the superspy known as 007 was the long filming process and the fact that it took a lot of time away from making movies that he really felt passionate about. However, some recent James Bond news makes it sound like something has convinced Daniel to return to the role of Bond. Indie Wire reported on Sunday that an insider close to the production of "Bond 25" said that Craig is returning to the franchise.
Daniel Craig's return to James Bond
The sourced said that Daniel Craig is part of the "winning team" and is a "money spinner" for the franchise. That makes a lot of sense. When looking at the numbers over at Box Office Mojo, the top four James Bond movies when it comes to money are all Daniel Craig Bond movies.
"Skyfall" made $304 million in the U.S., "Spectre" made $200 million, "Quantum of Solace" brought in $168 million, and Craig's first go-around, "Casino Royale," made $167 million. While there might be different numbers when accounting for inflation, those are still big numbers.
Also, in an era where worldwide numbers are more important than United States numbers for many franchises, Craig's Bond movies reigns supreme as well.
"Skyfall" is the 17th highest grossing movie of all time with $1.108 billion. The most recent movie, "Spectre," hit $880 million worldwide.
While Daniel Craig was pretty blunt when he talked about not wanting to make these movies, money in Hollywood talks as does the chance to get to make more personal movies in exchange for making huge blockbusters.
If the Bond franchise wants him bad enough, they will pay him well to ensure he returns.
If Daniel Craig did choose to back out, there were a number of other actors that were rumored for the role of 007 as well. Jamie Bell, Damian Lewis, Jack Huston, Luke Evans, and Henry Cavill were all rumored at one time. There was also talk of a black James Bond with Idris Elba or a female James Bond with Gillian Anderson.
Is Adele back as well?
The James Bond inside source also claimed that the franchise wants to bring back Adele as well. Much like Craig, they called her a "money spinner" as well and said that they want her to be one of the first people ever asked to repeat as the Bond theme song artist.
Adele won an Academy Award for the "Skyfall" theme song as well as winning at the Grammy Awards, and Brit Awards.
