Entertainment: Daniel Craig Is Coming Back as James Bond in 2019

Daniel Craig as James Bond in a scene from the 2015 film “Spectre.” He will return as Bond in 2019. Credit Jonathan Olley/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions, via Associated Press

Sound the trumpets: Daniel Craig will play James Bond in at least one more film, which will be released in November 2019.

Eon Productions, the London-based company that oversees all things 007, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which holds rights to the franchise, said on Monday that the next installment would arrive in theaters in North America on Nov. 8, 2019. That will put moviedom’s most famous spy in direct competition with a live-action fairy tale from Walt Disney Studios. (Disney claimed the date last year but has not yet disclosed the specific movie.)

Eon and MGM also said that the script would be written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have teamed up on the screenplays for the last six Bond installments, starting with “The World Is Not Enough” in 1999. The next Bond movie — the 25th in the series, if you include “Never Say Never Again” from 1983, which was made by an outside production company — will be produced by Eon’s Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

The companies said in a statement that details about a distribution partner, international release dates and the film’s cast and director would be announced “at a later date.” But Mr. Craig’s return is a done deal, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid conflicts with Eon and MGM.

After a grueling shoot for the last Bond movie, “Spectre,” Mr. Craig expressed a strong desire to move on from the role, which he took over in 2006 with “Casino Royale.” “I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists,” he told a British magazine in October. He later said that he had been overtired during that interview and that he would consider returning.

source: nytimes