The question of whether or not Daniel Craig would make another James Bond movie has been up for debate since the last one finished filming. Now, it appears that question has finally been truly answered. Eon Productions, the company in charge of all things James Bond has announced that the 25th James Bond feature will be released on November 8, 2019, and while the production company did not officially announce who would be playing the lead, the word is that Daniel Craig will be back one more time.
When Daniel Craig finished Spectre, the last film in the franchise, he famously said he'd rather slit his wrists than play the part again, though time changes perspective for all and even Craig knew that at the time, meaning that the possibility of his return was always there, at least until somebody else was cast in his place. Now, according to the New York Times, Craig's return to one of the most famous movie roles in history has been confirmed.
While the official reveal of the November 2019 release date said that cast and director announcements would follow, it makes sense that at least some of those decisions have already been made, thus giving the studio confidence to set the release date in the first place. Screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade who have written the last several James Bond movies have been on board to write Bond 25 for some time but you don't set a release date, even two years in advance, if you don't have a clue who your star is going to be or at least you really shouldn't.
Daniel Craig signing back on isn't a huge surprise right now as most of the recent rumors had indicated that it was likely to happen. Barbara Broccoli, the keeper of all things James Bond at Eon Productions, was said to really want Craig back, in part because she didn't like any of the potential replacements. Most of the recent word indicating that Craig might come back also indicated that if he did, part of the deal was that the next movie would be his last.
Whether or not the next James Bond movie turns out to be Daniel Craig's last, it's far from surprising that the studio has been working so hard to get him back. Craig has been the face of a major reset of the James Bond franchise and while the quality of the movies themselves hasn't always been great, the general feeling about the more grounded and realistic James Bond has been a positive one. Once the actor in the lead role changes all bets are off as the franchise will surely go through some additional changes, clearly Eon Productions is looking to put off those changes as long as possible.
