Two days ago, Daniel Craig said goodbye to James Bond at the world premiere of his fifth and final 007 movie No Time To Die. But the 53-year-old has already signed on for his next acting role. And Bond fans will be pleased to know there’s still a direct link to 007.
According to The New York Times, Daniel Craig will star in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in the title role next year on Broadway.
While the James Bond star is best-known for his big-screen roles, he’s an experienced stage actor too.
The 53-year-old previously starred in Broadway productions of A Steady Rain (2009) and Betrayal (2013).
While also playing Iago opposed David Oyelowo’s Othello at the New York Theatre Workshop.
Co-starring opposite Craig’s Scottish King will be Ruth Negga as Lady Macbeth, who previously played a female Hamlet in an Off Broadway production at St Ann’s Warehouse.
As for Macbeth’s connection to Bond, 007 boss Barbara Broccoli will be the lead producer on the theatre show.
She’s been talking with Craig about playing Shakespeare’s iconic role for several years now, ever since her Bond star expressed an interest in playing the part.
Broccoli said: “I’m thrilled that it’s coming after Bond, because, obviously, after 16 years of working with this man, the thought of it all coming to an end has been really difficult to take.”
Broccoli added: “And so it’s really heartwarming for me that we’re going to be working on something else so soon after the wrapping up of his James Bond cycle.
“It’s been a horrendous 18 months for everyone, and live theatre has been damaged tremendously.
“He really wants to come back and be on the stage and encourage people to come back to Broadway – it’s important to all of us from a cultural point of view and from a social point of view.”
Craig’s take on Macbeth will run for 15 weeks, beginning with previews on March 29 before opening on April 28 at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre.
Macbeth will be directed by Sam Gold, who previously helmed the Off Broadway production of Othello, which Craig starred in, and a revival of King Lear in 2019.
But aside from theatre, the outgoing Bond has some upcoming movies and TV shows on the cards too.
Craig has already shot the untitled Knives Out 2 in Greece in which he reprises detective Benoit Blanc in another Rian Johnson murder mystery set for Netflix next year.
While the 53-year-old is set to star in Todd Field’s The Creed of Violence as Rawbone.
The upcoming movie takes place in 1910 as two men, an assassin (played by Craig) and a government agent with a hidden connection to him try to stop an organisation behind an arms smuggling ring.
While for TV, Craig will star as Andreas Wolf in Purity, which sees a young woman join an activist group and began a global search for her father.
And the 007 actor will also play Benoit Blanc for a least a third time in Knives Out 3, which with its predecessor could make Craig $100 million.