The London Evening Standard is reporting that producers for EON Productions have finally convinced Daniel Craig to take on the mantle of James Bond one more time. Apparently, Daniel Craig has been encouraged to talk with Barbara Broccoli after the success of his off-Broadway play Othello, which Barbara Broccoli helped produce. Daniel Craig had previously stated that he would rather “Slash his wrists” than work on another Bond movie again. LRM has previously reported that Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have been working on the script for Bond 25.

If this turns out to be true, it is definitely welcome news. Daniel Craig has brought a gravitas to the Bond character that had only been scratched at with the previous actors taking on the role. James Bond, as presented in the original Ian Fleming novels, closely resembles the Bond that Daniel Craig has put on screen. With his amazing performance in Casino Royale, for being one of the few bright spots in the dreadful Quantum of Solace, taking the series back to its roots in Skyfall, and wrapping things up with his last effort as Bond in SPECTRE, Daniel Craig’s era as Bond has done a lot to merge the grittiness of the original novels with the staples of what has made the film series so great.

I can certainly understand some of Craig’s hesitation on taking on the role one more time. This is not a role you leave at the office when you’re done shooting your scenes for the day. There’s numerous other aspects to playing the role of Bond, such as all the merchandising tie ins he has to take part of that you’re not going to have to do on a smaller film. Add to that the fact that the fans for these films can be quite rabid in what they feel the movies should be like and you have a situation where it may seem there’s nothing you can do to can make anyone happy.

But let’s not kid ourselves either. If Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson have truly been able to convince Daniel Craig to be Bond one more time, Daniel Craig’s accountant must be doing back flips at the size of his bank account. Think back to the original James Bond, Sean Connery. Connery grew to loathe the character for much the same reasons Craig has. (Even though one of the only projects Sean Connery has been involved in after his retirement from film was the video game adaption of From Russia With Love, produced by EON Productions.) When George Lazenby failed to come aboard for another Bond movie after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, EON Productions backed the Brinks truck up to Sean Connery’s home to have him appear in Diamonds Are Forever. The only reason Daniel Craig would appear as Bond again would be for the payday. Money can be a great salve to many wounds.

And let’s be honest here, who would fault him for that? Even during his worst outing as Bond, Quantam of Solace, he put more effort into the role of Bond than his predecessor, Pierce Brosnan, did on his best film, Tomorrow Never Dies. Daniel Craig is one heck of an actor. Daniel Craig phoning in a role is much better than a room full of nobodies acting their hearts out.