Daniel Craig 'to quit as James Bond after signing up for new American television series'.......so who will be the next 007?

Daniel Craig has reportedly stepped down as James Bond, as a new US television series has meant he will be too busy to reprise the role.

According to The Sun, the 47-year-old will star in Purity, which will run for several series of 20 episodes apiece after playing the secret agent for a decade.

No doubt the decision will come as little surprise to Bond fans as Daniel claimed he'd rather ‘slash his wrists’ than play James Bond again.

At the time, he was reportedly told to 'shut up' and to stop bashing the popular movie franchise.

Insiders told New York Post newspaper's PageSix that Craig's animosity towards the popular franchise was brought on by the difficulties involved in the last film, Spectre.

 

A source claimed just before the movie was released: 'They had problems initially with the script, Craig was injured on the set and needed knee surgery, and they were still doing re-shoots last month, even though the movie is out in weeks. It was a very difficult shoot, to say the least.'

However, it's not just Spectre bosses that were unimpressed with Craig's attitude as 'Grey's Anatomy' actress Ellen Pompeo wrote on Twitter that, ‘this dude needs a reality check, after hearing about his remark.

‘Craig is pretentious and thinks he's better than Bond, that it doesn't give him the creative range he needs,’ a Hollywood insider told PageSix. ‘Plus he hasn't had a big hit movie outside of the franchise, and he blames that on Bond.’

The British actor made the claim when he was asked whether he would be back for a fifth movie.

'I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists,' he said during an interview with London's Time Out magazine. 'We’re done. All I want to do is move on,' the 47-year-old actor added.He added that if he were to do another Bond movie, 'it would only be for the money.’

He was paid £7.38million for Skyfall, making him the highest-paid Bond actor ever, and the film was the first Bond movie to break the one billion dollar mark.

After the success of Skyfall it was reported he brokered a deal to be paid £31million for his next two 007 films, including Spectre, the 24th film in the franchise.

 

He told Mail On Sunday's Event magazine in September last year that there's a deal in place that might require him to keep going.

'I’m contracted for one more but I’m not going to make predictions,' he told Event at the time. Craig's comments in the Time Out interview weren't the first time he dissed the role that catapulted him to international stardom and helped him bank millions of dollars.

When asked if he would continue as 007 by Esquire magazine in August, he said: 'At this moment, no. I have a life and I've got to get on with it a bit. But we'll see.'

 

Idris Elba is seen as a potential 007

Possibility: Tom Hardy is also in the frame as a potential successor

In the last year, there has been a flurry of speculation on who will be the next Bond. Luther star Idris Elba is a firm fan favorite, as well as sparking heated debate about whether there could ever be a black James Bond.

In June last year, bookies reported heavy betting on Wolf Hall and Homeland star Damian Lewis as the next 007.Others considered possible replacements for Craig include Richard Madden, Tom Hiddleston, Henry Cavill, Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy.

But whoever it is, Craig professed last year to not 'give a f***.''Good luck to them,' he said. '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.'As for his advice for whoever next gets to drive the Aston Martin: 'Don't be s***.'

source: dailymail