After months of media speculation, the identity of Britain’s most famous spy has finally been revealed: Daniel Craig is the next James Bond.

The British actor was officially confirmed as the new 007 at a London press conference Friday. Craig, 37, arrived at the conference by military speedboat, sweeping up the River Thames with Royal Marines boats as escorts.

“I’d like to thank the Royal Marines for bringing me in like that, and scaring the shit out of me,” the actor joked.

Craig, who replaces four-time Bond Pierce Brosnan in the role, had been a leading contender for weeks. According to franchise producer Michael Wilson, the first sandy-haired Bond (and the second Englishman to fill the role, after Roger Moore) was chosen from a field of more than 200 actors, and the decision took about two years to make.

A respected actor perhaps more familiar to English audiences from the 1990s British TV drama “Our Friends in the North,? Craig has appeared in ?Sylvia? with Gwyneth Paltrow, played a dastardly mobster in ?Road to Perdition? alongside Paul Newman, and more recently starred in ?Enduring Love? and ?Layer Cake.? He is currently filming a thriller, ?The Visiting,? with Nicole Kidman.

Craig told Reuters he was shopping Monday when he received the phone call confirming him as the sixth James Bond. “I dropped what I was carrying. I went straight to the alcohol section and got myself a bottle of vodka, a bottle of vermouth and went back and made myself a Martini ? or two.”

He said he?d had to think about whether he really wanted to play the iconic spy while he was being considered for the part.

“It was difficult, but I tried to think about it like any other job. We have got an incredible script, and that is my first line of attack. Once I had read it, I knew I did not have any choice,” Craig said. “It is a huge iconic figure in movie history, and those things don’t come along very often.”

He promises to bring something new to the role previously occupied by actors such as Sean Connery and Timothy Dalton.

“It’s not a question of redefining, but a question of taking it somewhere maybe where it’s never gone before,? said Craig, who, when quizzed by reporters, cited Connery as his favourite Bond and ?Goldfinger? as his favourite Bond film.

“I am looking most forward to actually starting getting on with it, and feeling intimidated about pretty much everything.

?It is a sort of responsibility, but it is also a huge adventure.”

Audiences can see Craig as Bond in ?Casino Royale,? due out in November 2006. ?Casino Royale? was Ian Fleming?s first Bond novel in 1953, and was previously filmed as a 1967 spoof starring Peter Sellers.

Directed by Martin Campbell, the new movie will take viewers back to the beginning of 007?s career.

?A lot of the embryonic Bond things will come out in the film ? how he gets the Aston Martin, how he mixes a martini,? said Campbell, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I certainly think it will be a little bit darker (than previous films) ? more character, less gadgets.?

The 21st film in the Bond series will start filming in January in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and at Pinewood Studios near London. It is expected to cost at least $100 million.

The suave spy has proved to be one of history?s most profitable movie franchises, with the 20 official Bond films netting almost $4 billion in global ticket sales since ?Dr. No? in 1962.






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