The latest Bond outing “Spectre” has earned $864 million and is the second most successful Bond film to date. It seems that the Bond franchise is at an all time high and still going strong in its 54th year. However, with Daniel Craig having voiced that “Spectre” could have been his final appearance as agent 007, it is once again in the hands of the Bond producers to safely steer the franchise through uncertain waters towards Bond25.
A recent article by British newspaper The Sun speaks of a new back-to-back offer being put to actor Daniel Craig to lure him back. Allegedly, the proposed deal consists of shooting Bond25 and Bond26 in one go with a cliffhanger ending for the first film. The news of this back-to-back deal broke shortly after reports started to hit the web, that actor Christoph Waltz had apparently signed up for two more Bond films to reprise his role from “Spectre”. While co-stars Naomie Harris, Ben Wishaw and Ralph Fiennes have already signed up to continue, Blofeld actor Christoph Waltz said he will return — if Craig commits.
The reasons behind Daniel Craig being reluctant to return to the series have been named by him in several interviews during the past year, one of them being the huge amount of time needed to complete a film of that magnitude. Filming the 25th and 26th instalment of the popular spy-series back-to-back would certainly reduce the time of filming and could thus be seen as an attractive offer for Craig. Barbara Broccoli had previously stated that she would do her best to keep the actor as the current 007 and hinting at a pre-production start in Spring 2016.
While speculations have run wild in the final months of 2015, about who could replace Daniel Craig in the role of gentleman spy James Bond, it would be unwise to change the winning system now. The storyline of “Spectre” clearly left us with an open end and continuing it with another actor in the title role would make it hard for Bond25 to sell well. A transition is never easy in the first place, but the initial situation longs for Craig to return to the role to finish the story arc.
If indeed a back-to-back deal is offered in the upcoming weeks, it would mean that the Bond production company, helmed by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, have already made plans for future films or at least have a rough outline that could form the basis of pre-production in 2016 for a 2017 release of Bond25. After a very successful 2015 for the Bond franchise, the new year will certainly bring about some hot news regarding the new Bond film and leave everyone eagerly waiting for the answer to one question: Deal or no Deal Mister Bond?
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