Los Angeles, May 8 (EFE).- British actor Daniel Craig will be paid $25 million for playing Agent 007 in the still-untitled next installment of the James Bond franchise, Variety reported Tuesday.
The paycheck being given to the 50-year-old Craig, who made his debut as the British secret agent in “Casino Royale” (2006), for his role in “Bond 25,” as the film is known in industry circles, tops Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s $22 million for “Red Notice,” a deal that includes a $1 million bonus for promoting the movie on social media.
Vin Diesel also got $22 million for “The Fate of the Furious,” while Anne Hathaway was paid $20 million for “Barbie,” a film that will hit theaters in 2020.
Craig, who will be starring in his fifth Bond film, has also played Agent 007, a character created by Ian Fleming, in “Quantum of Solace” (2008), “Skyfall” (2012) and “Spectre” (2015).
Last summer, Craig ended months of speculation over who would star in the next film in the Bond series, confirming that he was returning as Agent 007.
“Spectre” grossed $880 million at theaters around the world, Box Office Mojo reported.
After “Spectre,” Craig indicated in no uncertain terms that he was done playing Bond.
“Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists,” Craig told Time Out London in 2015. “No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.”
There was speculation for months that the film franchise’s producers were looking at other actors, including Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba and Damian Lewis, to replace Craig.
EON Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, which own the film rights to the 007 stories, said in a statement last year that the next Bond movie would be released on Nov. 8, 2019, in North America.
The screenplay for “Bond 25” will be written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have penned all the Bond movies since “The World Is Not Enough” (1999).
The Bond franchise dates back to “Dr. No” (1962), which starred Sean Connery as the iconic secret agent.