All signs seemed to point towards 2015’s Spectre being Daniel Craig’s last outing as James Bond, but now there’s word that Sony Pictures is doing everything in its power to retain the actor’s services. The studio has apparently offered Craig $150 million to remain in the role for two additional movies.
In May 2016, it was reported that Craig had turned down an offer of $100 million for two more movies as 007. Tom Hiddleston emerged as the frontrunner to inherit the role in the immediate aftermath, but it seems that Sony would rather stick with their established star.
While Craig was on the press junket for Spectre, he famously said that he’d rather “slash his wrists” than do another Bond movie. However, the proposed $150 million deal would see him film two new adventures back to back before passing the torch to another actor, according to a report from Radar.
To give some context to the money that Craig is being offered, the entire production budget for Spectre was reported to be around $250 million. The fact that the actor would receive $75 million for each of the next two movies seems to hint at Sony’s desperate ambition to keep him on board.
If nothing else, these contract negotiations seem to confirm that Sony has renewed its deal for the distribution rights to the James Bond franchise. The previous arrangement expired after the release of Spectre, and studios including Warner Bros. and Fox were expected to make a play for the rights.
However, now Sony is expected to announce that it will continue to be the series’ distributor — and it seems that the studio would like to confirm two more movies with Craig to put the cherry on top. At this point, the jury is still out on whether the 48-year-old actor will agree to his fifth and sixth films as the venerable superspy.
