Work commitments took a back seat as former 007 Daniel Craig proved you only live once, not twice, while rocking out to Metallica in Greece on Saturday evening.
The unlikely fan was in attendance as the legendary thrash metal pioneers performed the first European date on their sprawling M72 World Tour at Olympic Stadium in Athens.
Wearing a tight fitting T-shirt and sunglasses, Craig, 58, was seen bobbing his head and bouncing on his heels while standing in the cavernous venue’s VIP section as guitarist Kirk Hammett peeled off a whining solo.
The actor relinquished his licence to kill after playing secret agent James Bond for the fifth and final time in director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s 2021 blockbuster No Time To Die.
He has since focused on a range of new film projects, among them the hugely popular Knives Out franchise, and Queer, an adaptation of the controversial 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs.
Craig is now working on a currently untitled prison drama with Cillian Murphy, Michelle Williams and Mia Threapleton – the actress daughter of Oscar winner Kate Winslet.
Work commitments took a back seat as former 007 Daniel Craig proved you only live once, not twice, while rocking out to Metallica in Greece on Saturday evening
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, whose past credits include Whiplash and La La Land, the new film started principal photography on location in Greece earlier this year.
While the prison drama’s plot line and title are being kept firmly under wraps for now, a short synopsis has been released.
According to World Of Steel, it reads: ‘A prison warden (Craig) attempts to discipline a defiant inmate (Murphy) within a brutal correctional system.
‘As tensions rise, their relationship evolves into a psychological duel. [Michelle] Williams portrays the warden’s wife. Mia Threapleton plays the inmate’s girlfriend.’
According to industry reports, filming is expected to continue into May, when production will then move to greater Athens before wrapping up in Corfu.
There is currently no release date and the full cast lineup is yet to be announced, though Greek outlet iefimerida recently reported on Williams signing up for a role.
Meanwhile James Bond fans will reportedly have to wait another two years before 007 is back on the big screen, marking the longest gap between movies in the franchise’s 63-year history.
The super spy is no stranger to a lengthy hiatus – with a six-year gap between 1989’s Licence to Kill, the final Timothy Dalton film, and 1995’s GoldenEye, the first to star Pierce Brosnan.
The unlikely fan was in attendance as the legendary thrash metal pioneers performed the first European date on their sprawling M72 World Tour at Olympic Stadium in Athens
Wearing a tight fitting T-shirt and sunglasses, Craig was seen bouncing on his heels while standing in the cavernous venue’s VIP section
But with the leading actor still to be recast, following Daniel’s exit after 2021’s No Time To Die, a rumoured 2028 spring release means audiences will have waited a whopping seven years.
Last year the Broccoli family handed over creative control over to Amazon MGM Studios – which was formed when Amazon bought Bond’s parent studio in 2022 – after 30 years.
Dune’s director Denis Villeneuve has signed on to helm the new project, with Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight penning the script.
