Showtime CEO: ‘Purity’ won’t keep Daniel Craig from playing Bond if he wants to

There has been endless speculation on whether Daniel Craig will reprise his James Bond role again, with signs seeming to point to “unlikely” after the actor reportedly turned down a massive offer. His fate as the famed 007 also looked dubious when the actor took on a starring role in Showtime’s upcoming series Purity. The role will not, however, prevent Craig from donning his Bond tux again, according to Showtime CEO David Nevins.

While speaking at the premium network’s Television Critics Association summer press tour Thursday, the CEO clarified that Craig would be able to do both the 20-episode TV series and the next Bond movie — if he wants to, reports Deadline.

“It depends when they do the next James Bond movie, but I don’t think it precludes him,” said Nevins.

The exec explained that the bulk of the work on Purity will be completed during 2017, and suggested that Bond producers could wait till it’s done to film the follow-up to Spectre. Time could possibly work in Eon Productions’ favor; Craig’s comments about preferring a brutal suicide to thinking about filming a sequel indicated that — at the very least — the actor needed some distance from the iconic role.

If Craig is truly ready to put his Bond days behind him, his fans will at least be able to enjoy Purity over a two-year period. The limited series will be broken up into two installments, with each of the 20 episodes being directed by Todd Field. The series is based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Jonathan Franzen, the award-winning author of The Corrections.

Field and Franzen will team up with David Hare to co-write the series, and the trio will executive produce alongside Craig, Scott Rudin, and Eli Bush. A release date has not yet been announced.