I wonder if this was when his Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn was attached to the project or more recently.
I agree that it's encouraging that they're after a real actor rather than a WWF wrestler or the like. I'm not sure Craig is the right man (a little on the short side, perhaps?) but better him than some Ahnuld clone. Craig and Kevin McKidd of Rome fame, also linked to the role during the Vaughn era are not dissimilar in appearance and presence, IMHO. Looks like they have a certain type in mind. I wonder who might be next on their wish list. Pitt.
I wonder if Craig didn't like the script or didn't want to have 2 franchises ongoing at the same time. The only actor I can think of offhand who's managed to do that is Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones and Han Solo, but he had the same producers for each of those. As I understand, the Bond outfit keep their actors on a tight leash (eg the Brosnan/ Remington Steele saga). Christian Bale was apparently keen to play Bond as well as Batman, but I'd bet that once he became the Bat, he was ruled out of contention.
Funny, I've always thought that actors who can play Bond can play Batman, assuming that they can do both the accents. Connery would have made a good Batman (if you don't mind Batman having a Scottish accent), Brosnan was rumoured to be in contention for the Bat in the 1980s (he'd need to have bulked up) and Bale could have been a great Bond. Never really imagined Thor and 007 being one and the same, though...
If they are after a Proper Actor, I'm guessing that having Kenneth Branagh as director will probably help them land one.
