Broccoli renews bet on blond Bond Daniel Craig

Despite some resistance from fans, British actor Daniel Craig has been signed for a second James Bond film.

Barbara Broccoli, one of the producers of the iconic film franchise, has announced that Craig will star in the follow-up to Casino Royale, which is scheduled to hit theatres in November.

"We are already working on the sequel. We're in the early stages of that," she said in an interview. "It will be an original story but will continue part of what the story is in Casino Royale."

When actor Pierce Brosnan, who starred in four Bond films, revealed that he had been dropped as the suave superspy 007, there was intense debate over the most likely candidates to succeed him.

Craig, an actor better known in Britain than in North America, was announced as the new Bond last October but soon drew criticism from some Bond fans.

A die-hard group dead set against his selection even started an online campaign urging people to boycott the forthcoming film. The Craignotbond website claims to have collected 15,000 signatures in support of the boycott.

However, Broccoli and others have come to Craig's defence, including actor Christopher Lee – a former Bond villain and distant cousin to Bond creator and author Ian Fleming – and actor Roger Moore, who starred as 007 from 1973's Live and Let Die through 1985's A View to a Kill.