Craig. Daniel Craig.
Get ready to hear that name a lot: The actor has stepped out of obscurity and into James Bond’s (weaponry) shoes.
Daniel Craig was officially christened the next Bond on Friday, after much speculation and a long hiatus for 007. Craig will be succeeding Pierce Brosnan, whose age finally got the better of him after his four-year run. (He’s clearly no Arnold Schwarzenegger; see Wednesday’s Film Files.)
The 37-year-old Craig got his first dose of pandemonium upon making his announcement, as he posed for photos under the Tower Bridge in London and fielded questions from the press. Here’s a guy whose only true starring role was in a film–last year’s superb Layer Cake–that grossed under $3 million. In other words, he’s perfect for the role.
Craig won’t have too much time to let it all sink in, which is probably for the best. The next Bond film, Casino Royale, is in pre-production and is slated for release almost a year from today (Oct. 19, 2006). It begins filming in January, and lest we forget, Craig‘s already shooting Steven Spielberg‘s Oscar bait, Munich.
But while the new Bond was so excited about his appointment he told reporters he was “kind of speechless,” his predecessor Brosnan said he was hurt when he first learned of the news that he would be dropped for Royale.
“I was looking forward to making it edgier and grittier, and for all of that to go down in one phone call was highly disappointing,” Brosnan said.
Craig, whose more well-known roles include turns in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Road to Perdition, The Mother, Sylvia and The Jacket, beat out purported contenders Clive Owen, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman and Goran Visnjic for the role.
Since Bond’s inception more than 40 years ago, the series has become a worldwide institution-and moneymaker. The films have grossed nearly $4 billion since Dr. No was released in 1962.
Meanwhile, everything seems to be slowly culminating for Craig, as his stardom rises exponentially–and his life becomes tabloid fodder. Recent tabloid reports linked him with his Layer Cake co-star Sienna Miller, who was supposedly reconciling with Craig‘s good mate, Jude Law. He’ll have to deal with more of this as his life is now Bond’s: public property.
Iceberg. Tip of the iceberg.
