Craig officially reporting back as 007

DANIEL CRAIG, the British actor who once complained he’d rather slash his wrists than play James Bond a fifth time, is returning after all as 007.

Craig ( below) officially confirmed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert recently that he will return to the role of the British Secret Service agent in the upcoming Bond 25.

The actor had previously been reported to be attached to the project by The New York Times and others, but never confirmed it personally, until his appearance on Colbert’s show.

He said he had known he would reprise the role for “a couple of months” now.

“We’ve been discussing it, we’ve just been trying to figure things out,” the actor explained, adding: “I always wanted to; I needed a break.”

The new movie will be written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, the same duo behind previous Bond films, including the four earlier iterations in which Craig starred, to much critical acclaim and box-office success.

Craig’s return had been subject to furious speculation.

In 2015, he told Time Out magazine: “I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists ... We’re done. All I want to do is move on.” Asked if he meant for good, he told the magazine: “For at least a year or two ... If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.” In regards to these inciendiary comments, Craig told Colbert: “There’s no point making excuses about it, but it was two days after I had finished shooting the last movie, and I went straight to an interview where someone asked: ‘Would you do another one?’ and I went: ‘No’!” He added that instead of saying something “with style and grace”, he gave “a really stupid answer”. – Agencies