Daniel Craig will definitely be back as James Bond.
After some consternation that the star of SkyFall, the highest grossing Bond film in history earning $1.1 billion, may want to call it quits, Mr. Craig will be back as Ian Fleming’s British agent.
In a conference call with investors on March 19th, MGM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Barber said that they were working on a screenplay for the next Bond film, pre-titled “Bond 24.”
Barber said “We are very excited about the franchise, we look forward to announcing a director soon. We are currently developing the screenplay and working with our partners. We look forward to developing the script soon and signing a director. We are hoping within the next 3 years it will be released.”
Reuters reports that Mr. Craig has already signed a contract for the next two films, Bond 24 and Bond 25. And Ralph Fiennes and Ben Whishaw will join him, reprising their roles of “M” and “Q” respectively.
Barber reports that Skyfall and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey combined to help MGM realize a three-fold increase in its net operating income for 2012.