Daniel Craig Returning to Bond Seems Less Likely, Jamie Bell in Talks?

Actor Daniel Craig hasn’t exactly been quiet regarding how burnt out he is on playing James Bond for a fifth time. Perhaps the most extreme comments he made was several months back to Yahoo!, when he said:

“I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists… I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.

[…]

“For at least a year or two, I just don’t want to think about it. I don’t know what the next step is. I’ve no idea. Not because I’m trying to be cagey. Who the f— knows? At the moment, we’ve done it. I’m not in discussion with anybody about anything. If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.”

Ever since his comments, many have assumed that SPECTRE would be his last go at Bond, and since then, we’ve just been awaiting official confirmation. About a week ago, it was rumored that he was officially done, but even that turned out to be hearsay.

The latest in the ongoing story comes from Deadline.

According to the outlet, Daniel Craig and Katherine Heigl are in final negotiations to star in Steven Soderbergh’s heist film, LOGAN LUCKY, which follows “brothers who plan a crime during a NASCAR race in Charlotte.” The start date for that film is this fall, which apparently puts his commitment to Bond into question. That being said, it’s not entirely clear how this is the chase, considering the next film wasn’t even scheduled to shoot around the same time.

The studios involved have no idea when the new Bond film would hit theaters, let alone when they’re going to start production. It was originally thought that those negotiations on when that would be would have begun by now, but that isn’t the case.

In addition to his commitments to Soderberg, Craig is also attached to a 20-episode TV series (over the course of two seasons) called PURITY, based on the novel by Jonathan Franzen, and given the hectic schedule from TV, this seems to even further solidify that his returning to Bond is unlikely. 

The final nail in the coffin are rumors that actor Jamie Bell (FANTASTIC FOUR) has also been speaking with BOND producer Barbara Broccoli about potentially picking up the reins from Craig. Whether or not that ends up happening is another story altogether, but all signs seem to be pointing to Craig not sticking around.

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.

SOURCE: Deadline, Yahoo! Movies