Daniel Craig is in final talks to star in ‘Logan Lucky’ – fuelling further speculation he could be quitting as James Bond.
The 48-year-old actor was recently reported to have rejected a £68 million offer to play 007 in two more movies, and he looks set to sign up to Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming NASCAR movie.
According to Deadline, Katherine Heigl is also in final negotiations to appear in the motion picture, which tells the story of brothers who plan a crime while a NASCAR race is taking place in the US city of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Pre-production on the forthcoming film is due to start this weekend and filming has an autumn start date, which could complicate plans to tie Craig up as Bond for further movies.
The ‘Layer Cake’ actor – who has played Bond in four motion pictures, ‘Casino Royale’, ‘Quantum of Solace’, ‘Skyfall’ and last year’s ‘Spectre’ – was recently said to have told MGM studio bosses he is "done" playing the suave spy.
A source said: "Daniel is done – pure and simple – he told top brass at MGM after ‘Spectre’. They threw huge amounts of money at him, but it just wasn’t what he wanted.
"He had told people after shooting that this would be his final outing, but the film company still felt he could come around after ‘Spectre’ if he was offered a money deal."
Earlier this week, Jamie Bell was reported to have held informal meetings with producers about taking over from Daniel Craig as the iconic British spy after impressing Bond boss Barbara Broccoli while working with her on ‘Film Stars Don’t Die’.
A source said: "Barbara has been a fan of Jamie for a long time and has even thought about him playing another role in the franchise before.
"Everyone remembers Jamie as the little boy in ‘Billy Elliott’, but he’s now bulked up and got some serious roles under his belt."
Tom Hiddleston is currently favourite for the role, and he met Barbara and Bond director Sam Mendes in London earlier this month.
An onlooker said: "At first it was Barbara, Tom and another good looking young man. Then Sam Mendes joined them at about 11pm and they stayed until around 1am … There was lots of laughter; they all looked to be having a very jolly time."
Daniel Craig in talks for Logan Lucky
