Daniel Craig’s new job leaves James Bond in limbo

Today’s announcement that Daniel Craig is to star in a Hollywood film of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is great news for fans of Stieg Larsson. But it represents a rather less exciting development for those who prefer Craig’s other alter ego, James Bond.

As I noted last month, when I reported on growing rumours that Craig, left, was to play Mikael Blomkvist in the eagerly anticipated literary adaptation, the British actor would normally have been expected to spend the coming months working on a new 007 flick.

However ongoing troubles at the storied Hollywood studio MGM, whose finances have been mismanaged into a $4 billion black hole (regarding which a definitive account appeared in Saturday’s FT) have meant that work on the new Bond film was recently put on ice.

Now we learn that Craig has agreed to take the lead role in a film which is expected to become a major franchise, and  could – if everything goes according to plan – span a total of three major summer blockbusters.

This suggests that the British star may very well not be expecting to be called up for Bond duty any time soon. So 007’s most recent outing, in 2008’s underwhelming Quantum of Solace, is likely to be his last for several more years to come.

Today’s Hollywood Reporter looks at the fate of the Bond franchise, and concludes that it: “hangs in the balance.” (link here) Reuters meanwhile says the makers of the film are “panicked” (link here) by the failure to get a new 007 title off the ground.

All of which also represents terrible news for Sam Mendes, who badly needs a commercial hit to counterbalance a series of recent box office disappointments. Having been lined-up to  direct the next Bond movie, the former Mr Kate Winslet is also now left out in the cold.

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