Craig lands £31 million for two more 007 flicks

As the end credits roll at the end of a 007 film, we are usually assured of James Bond’s return. And with Daniel Craig being paid over £31 million to play the spy in two more outings, it is little wonder.

     The deal makes Craig (44), the best paid Bond till date, even taking into account the effects of inflation on his predecessors’ pay packets.

     Craig, who features in the latest Bond flick Skyfall, with star as the world’s mostfamous secret agent in a film. Skyfall’s huge box office success has led to Craig’s large increase in pay. It is a far leap from his first Bond role which saw him earn £1.9million in Casino Royale in 2006, and also the £4.4million he received for Quantum of Solace in 2008. For Skyfall, he received £10.7million, which more than the £7.5million paid to his predecessor Pierce Brosnan for The World Is Not Enough in 1999 and £10.3million for Die Another Day in 2002.

     Significantly, this deal will see him placed in the top heap of Hollywood vying for position just below Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio.

     Craig, who is married to English actress Rachel Weisz, is widely judged the best 007 since Sean Connery. Despite the criticism of Quantum of Solace, Skyfall has already made more than £378million at the box office slightly more than Craig’s previous two films.

     Skyfall, which also starts Judi Dench, Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes, is yet to release in many Asian countries and Australia, meaning it is expected to break the £500million mark before its cinema run ends.

     Meanwhile, the payments to Bond star have risen massively over the past half-century. When Connery was plucked from relative obscurity in 1962, he earned £10,000 for the first Bond film Dr No. Connery’s pay rose to £157,000 for From Russia With Love. When he returned to star in Diamonds are Forever in 1971, he earned a basic £620,000. Filmmakers were so keen to sign him that he also took 12.5 per cent of the profits made from the film in America.

    Connery starred in six official Bond films earning an average of £218,000- about £3million in today’s prices. Roger Moore’s average pay per film in today’s prices was £6.3million, Timothy Dalton got £5.4million and Brosnan £8.7million. Craig will earn more than all his predecessors, with an average of £9.6million.

     Little is known about the plot for the next two Bond films that Craig will star in, but the screenplay will come from John Logan, one of the three writers of Skyfall. It is thought to be a two-part film with the second to be released in 2016.