Daniel Craig becomes `best-paid Bond yet` with £31m-deal for 2 more films

London: Daniel Craig is being paid over 31million pounds to play James Bond in two more 007 films, it has been revealed.

The deal makes the 44-year-old actor, the best-paid Bond to date, the Daily Mail reported. Craig, who features in the latest film ‘Skyfall’, will star as the world’s most famous secret agent in a film that could be ready for release by 2014. It is said that the latest Bond movie’s huge box office success and critical acclaim has led to his large increase in pay. The payments to Bond stars have risen massively over the past half-century. Craig was paid 1.9million pounds in ‘Casino Royale’ in 2006, and received 4.4million pounds for ‘Quantum of Solace’ in 2008. He earned 10.7 million pounds for ‘Skyfall’, which is more than the 7.5million pounds paid to his predecessor Pierce Brosnan for ‘The World Is Not Enough’ in 1999 and the 10.3million pounds for ‘Die Another Day’ in 2002. The financial deal will see him placed near the top of Hollywood’s leading men - vying for position just below Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio. Craig, who is married to English actress Rachel Weisz, is widely judged the best 007 since Sean Connery and purists believe his portrayal of the literary character is the closest since Timothy Dalton in the 1980s. ANI