It's official: Tom Hiddlestone is too much of a wimp to play James Bond

In 2015, when Daniel Craig joked – but only kind of joked – that he’d rather slash his wrists than play James Bond in one more film, it kicked off a scramble among bookies to ordain a new Bond. 

The consensus settled on Tom Hiddleston, but according to the influential Hollywood gossip site Page Six, the powers that be have rejected him because he’s “too smug and not tough enough” – a harsh indictment considering Roger Moore reprised the role seven times.

Craig had always been head producer Barbara Broccoli’s first choice to continue as the sociopathic British superspy, but while promoting Spectre, his fourth outing as Bond, he told an interviewer that he couldn’t face it, saying: “Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists... I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.”

However, “multiple sources” have now apparently reported that a mollified Craig feels as though he’s got some of his artistic cred back after a very successful theatre run as Iago in a production of Shakespeare’s Othello – which was also produced by Broccoli, the godmother of the Bond franchise, and the daughter of the original producer.

“Daniel was very pleased with how Othello went and the great reviews,” the source said. “Now Daniel’s talks with Barbara are going in the right direction. They have a script – screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade [who’ve written several movies in the franchise] are writing and they’ll go into production as soon as Daniel is ready to commit.”

Hiddleston has yet to comment.

[Image: Rex]