Notoriously fuckless James Bond actor (and secret Stormtrooper) Daniel Craig might be more serious than we all thought about his claimed desire to not return to the role of the international superspy: Variety is reporting that Craig is in talks for what could be as much as a 20-episode commitment to a limited television series for Showtime, a development that would presumably at least delay shooting on another Bond film. The project in question is an adaptation of Purity, Johnathan Franzen’s sprawling data-paranoia novel from 2015.
Talks for Craig to join the project are still in early stages, and it hasn’t been revealed what part he might be considering. The novel—which focuses on a young woman’s search for identity, online or otherwise, in the modern digital landscape—contains a few meaty roles that Craig might fit, including one as a charismatic Edward Snowden/Julian Assange-type who lures Pip to join an online personality cult in South America.
The project is being masterminded by producer Scott Rudin (No Country For Old Men, The Grand Budapest Hotel), with In The Bedroom and Little Children writer/director Todd Field apparently tapped to adapt. Rudin has been reportedly shopping the project around to multiple outlets—including Netflix—of late, hunting around for someone willing to take a bite.