We've known for a while that Daniel Craig planned to leave the James Bond franchise after Spectre. Now, reports are pouring in that Craig is hanging up his license to kill to star in Jonathan Franzen's Purity TV adaptation. However, folks in the Craig and Bond camps have not yet reached a decision regarding the actor's possible, post-Purity return to MI-6.
Purity is currently the subject of a bidding war between Netflix, Showtime, FX, "and at least three other outlets," Variety reports. The package includes Craig as a star, along with producer Scott Rudin, and writers Todd Field and Franzen. According to unnamed "industry sources," the team will ask for an initial season of 20 episodes, with more to follow.
This isn't the first time a Franzen novel has made it to the small screen with Rudin's help. The producer developed the controversial author's National Book Award-winning 2001 novel, The Corrections, for HBO, but production did not move further than a 2012 pilot.
To echo Variety's Brent Lang, Craig "should seriously reconsider" giving up Bond to star in Purity, if that's what he intends to do. Franzen and Rudin's past efforts, combined with the post-franchise history of every other Bond actor, make for a dismal outlook if Craig jumps ship.
