Since Bond 23 has been postponed because of financial issues there have been rumors that Daniel Craig was going to leave the James Bond role, with Sam Worthington favorite to take over. Craig has already taken the lead roles in Jon Favreau’s adaptation of Cowboys & Aliens and David Fincher’s version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: two highly anticipated films.
But speaking to the LA Times Craig has stated he is ‘really and willing’ to continue in the role if asked. But Craig admits that nothing can be done until MGM sorts outs there finances. His language was both enthusiastic and realistic. A potential fly in the ointment is the possibility of sequels to Cowboys & Aliens and The Millennium Trilogy which can risk Craig’s availability for a third franchise.
Bond’s longtime composer David Arnold is confident a new Bond film will be made when speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, believing that it would be made for a 2012 or 2013 release, instead for 2011 as originally proposed.
Spyglass Entertainment is currently in talks to take over MGM which has $4 billion of debt. Spyglass has produced quality high profile films such as The Sixth Sense, Star Trek and Invictus, so should be a good fit for Bond and EON‘s independent nature.
Bond is critical and commercial success (most of the time), so it is very unluckily that the longest running film franchise is going to die completely.
Speaking as a Bond fan I hope that the financial situation is sorted out sooner rather then later and that a quality follow-up to Quantum of Solace is made.
