Daniel Craig Reaffirms James Bond Retirement After No Time to Die: “This Is It”

Five-time James Bond star Daniel Craig reaffirms No Time to Die marks his final outing as secret agent 007, saying “this is it.” The 51-year-old actor has long identified the upcoming 25th film in the franchise as his last, saying in a 2017 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert of the then-untitled Bond 25, “I think this is it. I just want to go out on a high note. I can’t wait.” In a new roundtable interview with co-stars Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, and Lashana Lynch, Craig says No Time to Die is “gonna be my last James Bond adventure.”

“This is it. That’s it, it’s over,” Craig says in a sitdown hosted by Entertainment Weekly. “But I, for one, am incredibly happy I got the chance to come back and do another one, because… this movie, whatever people think of it — who knows what people are going to think of it — everybody, including these people here, just put everything into it. And we did our best. And it feels like that. I know it sounds simplistic, but we did.”

The Cary Joji Fukunaga-directed No Time to Die is “as good as it can be,” Craig added.

When Craig vacates the famed role, there’s a line of high-profile stars hoping to replace him: Avengers star Chris Hemsworth, Spider-Man star Tom Holland and Superman star Henry Cavill have all expressed interest in the role.

“I don’t think you’ll ever meet anyone who doesn’t want to have a crack at James Bond. I’d love to do it,” Hemsworth, best known for playing Marvel superhero Thor, told Balance last year. But taking over such an iconic and long-running role is “up to so many elements and is way beyond myself; it’s not one you can pitch yourself on to either.”

“It’s something that the community of Bond fans, [franchise producer] Barbara Broccoli and the whole crew there agree on, and it has to be a very organic decision from them,” Hemsworth said. “There have been a lot of names thrown out there and a lot of brilliant people can tackle that one.”

In late 2018, rumors emerged claiming Broccoli wanted Cavill as Craig’s replacement. Asked about potentially taking over Bond following Craig’s exit, Cavill once told Yahoo Movies he would accept the role if approached. More recent rumors suggest English actor James Norton is the favorite to take over as Bond.

No Time to Die opens April 10.