It has been a decade now since Daniel Craig made his first appearance as the British Secret Service agent James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale. It was a huge success for the long-running film franchise, and launched four sequels in its wake. Two of those sequels were met with a middling reception, the most recent being last year’s Spectre, which was apparently a difficult shoot for Daniel Craig.
Craig was outspoken about the difficulty of the production and his current state of dissatisfaction regarding the famous role. He put it bluntly, saying he’d “rather break this glass and slash my wrists” than play Bond again at the moment, in an interview with TimeOut nearly a year ago. He stated that he simply wanted to “move on” after filming Spectre, and in a certain way, it’s hard to blame him. The role is physically very demanding, and Daniel Craig is approaching 50 years old. 2012’s Skyfall already played heavily on the dynamic of an aging Bond, making it seem like the time might be coming soon to pass the torch along, and let a new man take the helm.
A small number of candidates were rumored to be good fits for the part, names like Tom Hiddleston, Michael Fassbender, and Idris Elba. These were all speculation, however, and nothing concrete surfaced until recently.
Radar is now reporting that Daniel Craig has received an offer of $150 million to play James Bond in two more movies, a move they describe as “Sony desperately throwing cash at the actor to return as the iconic 007.” Their source goes on to describe the franchise being at a “crucial time” and that the idea of losing Craig “isn’t an option.”
It seems that even if Craig accepted the offer, his previous comments on the role would cast a shadow over his work. And considering the ups and downs of his current four Bond films, there’s no telling how two more movies featuring 007 would turn out.
