DAN ANOTHER DAY
TV boss outs Daniel Craig as returning Bond in next movie
DANIEL Craig will play James Bond for a fifth time, a television boss has let slip.
The actor, 49, was due to start work soon on TV drama Purity.
But the US series has been put on hold, with Showtime network boss David Nevins saying of Craig: “He’s doing Bond first.”
With an announcement yet to be made, he added: “I can’t say anything about what I know or don’t know about Bond.
“That’s not my area. It’s possible [Purity] may not shoot until 2019.” Purity, based on Jonathan Franzen’s novel, was due to go into production this year. Craig was expected to appear in most of the two 10-episode seasons, as a German provocateur.
Yet rumours have been circulating that he landed a bumper deal to make two more Bond films, despite vowing he would rather “slash his wrists” than reprise the role of 007. Bond 25, working title Shatterhand, is due for release in November 2019.
It is based on the book Never Dream of Dying, with Croatia named as a filming location.
Idris Elba, Aidan Turner, Tom Hardy and James Norton were all in the frame to play the spy after Craig said while promoting 2015’s Spectre he did not want to commit to the part again. But producer Barbara Broccoli has been wooing the star to return.
Elba, 44, said in a recent radio interview: “I think he and his business team are very clever. ‘No I won’t do it. $150million? Yes, I will do it’.”
Ben Whishaw and Naomie Harris are expected to return as Q and Moneypenny. Broccoli is also said to be trying to convince Skyfall singer Adele to record Shatterhand’s theme song.