Some people love him as James Bond. Others hate him. Wherever you fall on Daniel Craig as James Bond, you are getting him in the legendary role for at least one more film.

The next 007 film is scheduled to come to theaters on November 8, 2019. The announcement was made on Monday by Eon Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with a script written by 007 veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. For now, there is no title to the to-be-released film. There are a lot of unknown aspects of the film beyond that, and news about the cast has yet to be detailed other than Craig’s role in the film.

It was not that long ago the future of the Bond franchise with Craig was in question. In May 2016, a report had surfaced suggesting Tom Hiddleston was in “advanced talks” to take on the role of the world’s most famous secret agent. This came as the world was left wondering if Craig had wrapped up his time as Bond following the release of Spectre. That was Craig’s fourth Bond film since taking on the role for the first time in the 2006 release of Casino Royale. At the time, Craig offered quite a different take on the Bond character; a bit more dark and grimy compared to the super suave character portrayed by actors like Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, and Sean Connery over the years.

But in September, another report came out saying Craig had been offered $150 million to continue playing the role. And who turns down that kind of money?

What made that news interesting was Craig had publicly and graphically said he’d rather slit his wrists than play the role again. But money talks, and a lot of money talks loudly.

The next Bond film will be the 25th in the franchise, so it would make sense to have the studios involved want to keep the character played by a name that has carried the torch before, rather than risk the 25th installment with a Bond rookie. With Craig, they know what they have, and that provides some stability for the Bond franchise.

So here we are once again, with Craig set to play James Bond one more time. Will this be his final run as Bond?

[New York Times/Photo: MGM]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.