Bond 25: Daniel Craig Confirms He's Back As James Bond
So much for preferring to slash his wrists...
After a couple of years of speculation and a fairly public assertion that there was pretty much no way he was going to return, Daniel Craig has confirmed that he's returning to play Britain's most famous spy for Bond 25.
He turned up on The Late Show as part of the publicity tour for Logan Lucky and when asked whether he would be returning he offered a blunt "yes":
Naturally, the audience was delighted.
Craig had been doing interviews all day and inevitably fielding questions on his future as Bond, which he mostly evaded entirely, including telling Magic radio:
“I would hate to burst the bubble here, but no decision has been made at the moment, there’s a lot of noise out there and nothing official has been confirmed. I’m not holding out for money or doing anything like that, it’s just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. I know they are desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it but there is no decision just yet.”
But he was obviously just waiting for the right opportunity to confirm, and Stephen Colbert was the man he wanted to tell.
Rather infamously, Craig said he'd rather slash his own wrists than return to play 007 - which set the Internet in search of possible replacements within minutes - but on reflection, it sounds like he was just tired, having just wrapped filming Spectre when he was asked:
“Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.”
He addressed the comments on The Late Show too conceding that “Instead of saying something with style and grace, I said something really stupid.” You live and learn.
It sounds like it's going to be Craig's last stint as Bond too, which shouldn't come as a surprise as that's what his contract has always stipulated. Craig says he wants to take the opportunity to go out on a high note. Let's hope he gets his desire.
Bond 25 is set for release on 8th November, 2019.