What the heck is happening with JAMES BOND?
Every week, the bookies say there’ll be a new 007, but we reckon there’s only one man for the job…
When Bond star Daniel Craig was promoting the release of Spectre in 2015, he famously told a journalist he’d “rather break this glass and slash my wrists” than play the spy again. Ever since that maverick remark, speculation over which actor will take over the highest-profile big-screen role in movie history has been rife. It’s no exaggeration to say that we at heat get weekly emails from bookmakers with odds on the new Bond, and in recent months, the favourites to get the role have included Tom Hardy, Aidan Turner, Tom Hughes, James Norton, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba. Basically any handsome and fit British or Irish actor has been linked with the role.
But with no official announcement of any kind about the next film yet, let alone who’ll be playing 007, it’s time to ask, “What is actually happening with this mega-movie franchise?”
BEST JOB IN THE WORLD
It’s now been two-and-a-half years since the announcement of the last film, and since the shooting of these blockbusters routinely takes at least six months, chances are we’re not going to see a new 007 flick for at least another year. Yet these movies make more money than ever, with 2012’s Skyfall ’s global box office reaching $1.1billion and Spectre taking $880million – crazily regarded by some as a “flop”. So, why the delay? Well, we hear from an insider that the whole process is resting on Daniel Craig’s decision whether or not to star in what would be his fifth entry in the franchise.
Craig has already backtracked on that wrist-slashing comment after Spectre, explaining that his negativity towards the role back then was due to the timing – he was speaking after a gruelling seven-month shoot followed by a huge publicity campaign. “When asked 20 feet from the end of a marathon, ‘Will you do another marathon?’ The answer is simple: ‘No, I won’t’,” he said late last year, adding, “I got the best job in the world. If I were to stop doing it, I’d miss it terribly.”
THE $150 MILLION SALARY?
Shortly after these comments, it was reported in the press that Eon productions, the company that makes the Bond films, was offering Craig a world-record salary of $150millon to make two more films back-to-back. However, we hear this story was nonsense, and in fact the main ongoing negotiation between Craig and Eon boss Barbara Broccoli revolves not so much around money as the creative issues surrounding the next film, like what kind of tone and themes it will have and who will take over as director after Sam Mendes ruled himself out after his
Skyfall and Spectre triumphs. In fact, Craig is actually contracted to make another 007 film, although sources say he could easily back out of the contract without incurring
‘Boss Barbara Broccoli went out on a limb hiring Craig in the first place’
any major financial loss. Whatever happens, Broccoli – who makes the big Bond casting decision alone and went out on a limb hiring Craig in the first place – wants him to come back and he’ll get a suitably large fee if he does. As for the idea of making two in succession, Craig’s said, “There was a conversation that went, ‘Let’s film two movies back-to-back.’ I just went, ‘You’re out of your f**king minds.’” Enough said. alternative candidates, mainly because Craig is taking so long to decide that it would be crazy not to have a back-up plan. We hear discreet meetings have taken place with the likes of Aidan Turner and Victoria star Tom Hughes. So discreet, in fact, the actors barely even realised what they were discussing. In the end, though, money talks, and the vast sum that the Daniel Craig-era Bonds have made globally means all the power rests with one man. Come on, Dan, put us out of misery and just say yes to Bond 25.