Daniel Craig to return for fifth James Bond film

NEW YORK -- Daniel Craig's 007-era will die another day.

After months of gossip and denials, Craig on Tuesday night confirmed to Stephen Colbert on the "Late Show" he indeed will return for another James Bond movie. The not-yet-titled film is due out in November 2019.

"We've just been trying to figure things out," Craig told Colbert. "I always wanted to. I needed a break."

The 49-year-old actor's stewardship of James Bond has spanned four films -- and will go for a fifth -- but it has generated enough rumors to power the kind of doomsday device Bond usually is trying to stop.

Craig's time as Bond has been distinguished. His "Skyfall" remains a high point in dollars and quality for the 55-year-old franchise. His last one, 2015's "Spectre," grossed $880 million worldwide. Most consider him a terrific Bond who has raised the bar for the franchise, and his official return was greeted warmly Wednesday.

But the Craig era, far more than its predecessors, has been characterized by a steady supply of Bond drama. Rumors and debates over who should be the next 007 have been nonstop for years, as have Craig's frequent hints about calling it quits.

In 2015, he famously said he'd rather "slash my wrists" than make another Bond movie, a comment he later explained as a kind of joke from the fatigue of completing one.

Yet while Craig keeps donning the tux, the next-Bond handicapping has been a year-round business. Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, Jack Huston and Riz Ahmed are just some of the actors who have been linked to the role -- some of them for the better part of a decade.

Others have lobbied for a female 007, such as Charlize Theron. Idris Elba has been a favorite for at least two years, going back to when Bond author Anthony Horowitz suggested he was "too street" for the part.

The meetings of producer Barbara Broccoli are spied on as if they concern national security. In a way, they do. Bond is a nation-state of its own, with more than $7 billion in box-office revenues.

Craig's dance with Bond possibly was a strategy to deflect some pressure. He has, perhaps more than anyone since Sean Connery, eluded being defined by 007. Last year, he did "Othello" off-Broadway with David Oyelowo. He gives a comic turn in Steven Soderbergh's "Logan Lucky," out Friday.

It's as though Craig has always wanted his future with James Bond a little up in the air to avoid the stasis that could set in for a decades-old franchise now preparing its 25th film. Craig acknowledged on Colbert his return had been settled months ago.

And even as he confirmed he was returning, Craig suggested it will be his last one.

"I think this is it," he said. "I just want to go out on a high note."

Though many surely will, don't bet on it. Or to put it another way: Never say never again.