It seems like it was just yesterday that Daniel Craig was announced as the next James Bond, taking over from Pierce Brosnan who had played the role of the infamous secret agent from 1995 through until 2002.
So far, the Craig era has been a rocky one, both internally and externally thanks to recent cash woes at parent company MGM. Casino Royale was a smash hit debut film, while Quantum of Solace was seen as an underwhelming flick despite it having some of the more impressive action sequences in the franchise.
Enter Skyfall in 2012, which proved that a classic James Bond film could work in a modern-day age of spies and espionage. The Sam Mendes film was a huge critical hit with Craig earning critical praise for his wounded and gritty portrayal of 007. A film so successful, that it reunited Mendes and Craig for SPECTRE. But it could also be the final time we see Craig in the role.
Even though he happens to be signed on for five Bond films, Craig didn’t exactly seem too thrilled to be back to finish out his contract in an inevitable fifth flick, as he explained to Esquire:
“I don’t know, I really don’t know. Honestly. I’m not trying to be coy. At the moment I can’t even conceive it.”
When asked if he’d be ready for another Bond Flick, Craig said “At this moment, no. I have a life and I’ve got to get on with it a bit. But we’ll see.” Fair enough, as I can imagine that SPECTRE was another grueling shoot. On top of that is also the pressure of living up it’s predecessor as Skyfall’s $1.08 billion total earnings is the highest in the franchise, breaking several box office records, and it’s the only Bond film to earn an Oscar nomination for Adele’s highly praised theme song. When asked if that massive success made for an intimidating shoot with the crew now, Craig said:
“I think everyone was just daunted, understandably, like, it’s ‘the biggest British movie of all time’. What does it f**king mean? Where do we go from there? How do you process that? It could have been an albatross around everyone’s necks. It turned out not to be, but there was a massive amount of pressure at the beginning.
I feel like we’ve all done our absolute f**king best and that’s a good feeling. Whether that makes a better movie we’ll see.”
The beauty behind the structure of a Bond movie, is that they’re primarily standalone movies. Each flick doesn’t need to link to the others exactly, an idea which has allowed for multiple Bonds over the decades.
And after four movies, now might be a good time for Craig to hang up the Walter PPK pistol. Every generation has had their Bond, and if SPECTRE lives up to expectations, Craig may be able to go out on a high note. Because no Bond actor wants a Die Another Day on their resume, I’ll tell you that much.
Last Updated: September 1, 2015
