Daniel Craig has been 'persuaded' to do one last Bond movie

He might have said that he’d rather ‘slash his wrists’ than play James Bond again, but it sounds like Daniel Craig is going to don the tuxedo one more time.

According to Page Six, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has all but persuaded him to play 007 for the historic 25th movie in the series.

Plus, it’s said that she’s really not keen on having the likes of Tom Hiddleston – said to have been in the frame to replace Craig – picking up the Walther PPK, as he’s ‘too smug’ and ‘not tough enough’.

So now Craig, who recently starred in ‘Othello’ off-Broadway with David Oyelowo, appears to have been enticed back.

A ‘Hollywood source’ told them: “Daniel was very pleased with how ‘Othello’ went and the great reviews.

“Now Daniel’s talks with Barbara are going in the right direction. They have a script — screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are writing and they’ll go into production as soon as Daniel is ready to commit.

“Plus, Barbara Broccoli doesn’t like Tom Hiddleston, he’s a bit too smug and not tough enough to play James Bond.”

Broccoli actually produced Craig’s production of ‘Othello’ – which sounds like a sweetener if ever we heard one – an additional source adding: “Daniel had such a good time in ‘Othello,’ produced by Barbara that he’s ready to do a final Bond.”

Craig’s now infamous remarks about him not wanting to make another Bond movie are rarely framed as they were likely intended.

Asked four days after the end of the epic, multi-location, multi-country shoot for ‘Spectre’ whether he’d be up for doing another film, he told Time Out: “Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists.

“No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.”

Asked if that meant he wanted to move on ‘for good’, he added: “I haven’t given it any thought. For at least a year or two, I just don’t want to think about it. I don’t know what the next step is. I’ve no idea. Not because I’m trying to be cagey. Who the f**k knows? At the moment, we’ve done it. I’m not in discussion with anybody about anything. If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.”

Since then, there’s been wild speculation over who would be taking over, drawing in the likes of Idris Elba, Aidan Turner, Hiddleston, James Norton, Tom Hardy, Jamie Bell and Michael Fassbender.

As recently as last week, there was even a price of 16/1 that Craig would make way for a female Bond.

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