Updated 16 August 2017: Daniel Craig has confirmed publicly that he'll be coming back as Bond during an interview with The Late Show host Stephen Colbert. He admitted he's known for a "couple of months" that he'll star in the 25th Bond film, which is out in November 2019. "We've been discussing it, we've just been trying to figure things out," he said, adding: "I always wanted to, I needed a break," the BBC reported.
Original story: Daniel Craig is returning to play James Bond once again. And yes, that's after he suggested he'd rather die by suicide than reprise the role.
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In a 2015 interview with Time Out London, Craig was not keen on playing Bond again.
"Now? I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all," the actor told the magazine when asked if he could envision acting in another Bond film. "That's fine. I'm over it at the moment. We're done. All I want to do is move on."
Fast forward almost two years, and The New York Times reports that Craig "later said that he had been overtired during that interview and that he would consider returning." (The Times also reported that while MGM and Eon Productions haven't confirmed the new Bond film's cast, "two people briefed on the matter" confirmed Craig's return.)
To state the obvious: It's hard to imagine a female star saying she was "over it" in regards to a leading role and be able to come back from it. Katherine Heigl, for instance, is still being asked in interviews about comments she made about Knocked Up in 2008, even though she has since apologized for them. (Even without the apology, though, calling a movie "a little sexist" seems less egregious than an actor threatening to "slash my wrists.")
It's safe to say Craig would earn a hefty paycheck for reprising the role, too. Last fall, rumors swirled that Craig had been offered $150 million to do two more James Bond films, though sources told Vanity Fair that figure was incorrect.
It's fine if Craig changed his mind about the franchise — maybe he realized he did want to keep playing a part in the iconic movies. But it's hard not to think he fared better than a woman in the same situation would have.
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