Daniel Craig named as first blond Bond

LONDON - His name is Craig, Daniel Craig.

The English actor has been named as the next James Bond, ending months of speculation over who would take over from Pierce Brosnan on Her Majesty's secret service.

In typically flamboyant 007 style, the 37-year-old swept up the River Thames on a power launch to a news conference, escorted by Royal Marines boats.

The first blond Bond wore a blue suit and red tie and posed for photographers in the shadow of Tower Bridge.

During exchanges with reporters he got a taste of the downside of superstardom that landing the role will bring, dodging personal questions about supermodel Kate Moss and actress Sienna Miller, both of whom have been linked with Craig.

Some of his comments were decidedly non-Bond.

"I'd like to thank the Royal Marines for bringing me in like that, and scaring the shit out of me," the actor joked.

Craig was hot favorite in the run-up to Friday's announcement, and his appointment to star in the next Bond film "Casino Royale" was all but confirmed when his mother let the secret slip to a regional newspaper earlier in the day.

While little known in the United States, Craig will be more familiar to British audiences after appearing in the gangster caper "Layer Cake". He also played alongside Paul Newman in "Road to Perdition" and Gwyneth Paltrow in "Sylvia".

Craig may not need much training to learn some of Bond's lounge-bar habits.

He told Reuters he was shopping when he received the call telling him he had been confirmed as the sixth James Bond.

"I dropped what I was carrying. I went straight to the alcohol section and got myself a bottle of vodka, a bottle of vermouth and went back and made myself a Martini ... or two."

DARKER 007?

Martin Campbell will direct Casino, due for release in November next year, which takes viewers back to the beginning of the super spy's career.

"I certainly think it will be a little bit darker (than previous films) ... more character, less gadgets," the director said of Casino, which is expected to cost at least US$100 million.

Craig promised to bring something new to a role immortalized by earlier incarnations Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Brosnan.

"It's not a question of redefining, but a question of taking it somewhere maybe where it's never gone before."

He said he spoke to Irishman Brosnan, who had described the decision by Bond film makers to drop him as a "body blow".

According to franchise producer Michael Wilson, Craig was chosen from a field of more than 200 potential 007s, and the decision took about two years to make.

During that time dozens of actors were linked with the part, including Britons Clive Owen and Jude Law, Australia's Hugh Jackman and Croatia's Goran Visnjic.

Much of the immediate feedback from Bond fan sites was less than flattering.

"Friday October 14, 2005 the death of James Bond," wrote a contributor to one website.

With more than a hint of sarcasm, another commented: "Good choice - let's have a blond haired blue eyed ugly actor play a character that is known for being dark haired and handsome. What is going on? I'm gutted."

For the filmmakers, there is plenty at stake.

Not only is the character a national institution in Britain, but he is also one of history's most profitable film franchises.

The 20 official Bond films have netted nearly $4 billion in global ticket sales since "Dr. No" in 1962, of which Brosnan's four films grossed around $1.5 billion, industry figures show.

Asked if he saw pitfalls to being Bond, Craig told Reuters: "It's not that I'm in denial about the fact that there are pitfalls, but I'm just not there at the moment. Ask me in four years' time."

- REUTERS