Like me, I'd imagine most of you are pretty excited for Spectre, Sam Mendes' highly anticipated return to the James Bond franchise, and so is Daniel Craig, because apparently he just wants to be done with the damn thing. With Spectre set to hit UK and US theaters in the next few weeks, Craig spoke with Time Out London about the Skyfall followup and threw down some serious words about his desire, or extreme lack there of, to return for another installment. The whole interview is like a master class in not giving a fuck.
Despite the fact that Craig is already under contract for another turn as the gentleman spy, he dropped some choice words on the prospect of a return to the franchise, mainly, that he'd rather kill himself than do it again right now.
Asked if he could see himself returning for another Bond film Craig said,
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
Yeesh, man. Not a good look. To be fair, he does make it pretty clear that he's talking about right now, which makes sense. If I was in the midst of a massive round of promotion after wrapping such a mammoth-scale production, I'd probably want a break too. But there's something to be said for speaking in a way that doesn't make you sound ungrateful and entitled. Craig took a bit more diplomatic tone in his follow up answer,
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 fuck 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.’
How's that for some honesty? After four round in the tuxedo, Craig says his well is dry, so to speak, and all the Bond he's got, he put into Spectre.
‘Every idea I’ve had for a Bond movie, I’ve stuck into this one. It’s gone in. The Bond bank is dry. If you’re asking me what would I do with another Bond movie? I haven’t a clue. Go into space? Let’s do it! They already did it. Let’s do it again.’
Craig also confirmed rumors that the studio wanted to move swiftly on the Specre sequel, planning to film Spectre its followup back-to-back at one point,
‘Well, I was contracted to do another one. That was all set up. But at the studio there was a real keenness to get it done as soon as possible. In fact, there was a conversation at one point that went: “Let’s film two movies back to back.” I just went: “You’re out of your fucking minds.” In the nicest possible way. They’re just too big.’
His thoughts on who should pick up the mantle after he's done? Zero. Fucks. Given.
Look, I don’t give a fuck. Good luck to them! All I care about is that if I stop doing these things we’ve left it in a good place and people pick it up and make it better. Make it better, that’s all.
And what would be his advice to his eventual successor? "Don't be shit." Not very useful advice, but definitely worth heeding.
You’ve got to step up. People do not make movies like this any more. This is really rare now. So don’t be shit...Go for it. Embrace it. Some clichéd line like that. But no, just make sure you’re great. You’ve got to push yourself as far as you can. It’s worth it, it’s James Bond.’
Sounds like if we're getting another James Bond film with Craig in the title role, it's not going to be for a few years. And if he returns, we can very well expect it to be for the last time. It's an odd set of statements given that, as he says in the interview, he's already contracted for another film, but perhaps this is a bit of public negotiation. After all, if you're doing it for the money, make sure you're doing it for a lot of money.
