Relucant 007 Daniel Craig Offered Nearly $200 Million To Play Bond Two More Times

Sony will spend a lot of money to not hire Tom Hiddleston.

When Daniel Craig said he’d rather “slash my wrists” than make another James Bond movie and subsequently turned down a £68 million (then valued at $AUD137.27 million) offer to reprise the role, we reasonably thought the issue was put to bed.

But Sony, the studio behind the franchise, is nothing if not persistent.

According to Radar Online, Sony has upped their offer to $US150 million (which equates to £134.5 million or $AUD197 million). But the price bump comes with a catch: Sony wants to tie down the 48-year-old for two more excursions as 007, filmed back-to-back.

Nonetheless, it would make him the highest paid actor on the planet. (Dwayne Johnson, 2016’s title holder, made “just” $US64.5 million, or $AUD84.76 million, last year.) And remember the caveat Craig added to his wrist-slashing statement: "If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.”

“The studio is desperate to secure the actor’s services while they phase in a younger long-term successor,” a source apparently told Radar.

If they’re right – and Craig signs on – that effectively ends the chances of Idris Elba (43), Tom Hiddleston (35) and Michael Fassbender (39) ever playing the next Bond. That is, unless Sony is happy enough to kick start another 15-year franchise with an actor in his mid-to-late forties.

However, if Craig declines the offer, Sony may have no choice but to bring aboard one of these other contenders ASAP.

Bond films wait for no man.

Photo: Sony.