It looks like, at long last, Daniel Craig has been persuaded to return as James Bond for one final movie. Maybe. An announcement hasn't yet been made by the studio, but a new report claims that series producer Barbara Broccoli has managed to persuade the actor to return for James Bond 25, despite saying that he would rather "slash his wrists" than do another one after Spectre finished filming. But for now, this should be regarded as a rumor, though if it is true, things are looking good.

The report comes courtesy of Page Six, who claim that an unnamed "Hollywood source" had told them that Barbara Broccoli, who is pretty much the gatekeeper of the James Bond franchise, has just about talked Daniel Craig into it. A lot of the persuasion came as a result of a recent production of Othello that Craig did, which was produced by Broccoli. Here is what the unnamed source reportedly had to say about it.

"Daniel was very pleased with how 'Othello' went and the great reviews. Now Daniel's talks with Barbara are going in the right direction. They have a script, screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade [who've penned several Bond movies] are writing and they'll go into production as soon as Daniel is ready to commit. Plus, Barbara Broccoli doesn't like Tom Hiddleston, he's a bit too smug and not tough enough to play James Bond."

Page Six is spotty with scoops of this nature, so this is about as solid as freshly poured concrete at the moment, but it isn't the most unbelievable thing we have ever heard. Outside of the Daniel Craig bit, it is interesting that Barbara Broccoli reportedly threw some shade at Tom Hiddleston, who was the rumored frontrunner to take over the role. So, even if Daniel Craig doesn't come back, if there is any truth to this at all, it seems like Tom Hiddleston is out. Other names that have been thrown around include Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba and Aiden Turner. But if Craig has in fact been convinced to come back for his 007 swan song, those names probably won't mean all that much.

This "will he, won't he" saga about Daniel Craig's return to the James Bond franchise has been going on for quite some time now, and it has been a real back and forth. Though, as more time has passed following Spectre, it seemed more and more likely that he would come back for a fifth turn as 007. Recently, writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have written quite a few Bond movies in the past, were officially brought back to pen the script for James Bond 25. Since they are working on the script, it stands to reason that they have a pretty good idea of who will be suiting up for MI6, because that will surely have an affect on the story. With Daniel Craig allegedly coming back, they will be continuing the threads that were left to be pulled at the end of Spectre, with Bond seemingly walking away from the spy game and Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) left alive. If a new actor were brought in, they would probably be moving in an entirely different direction, so it would be tough to write the script without knowing what direction James Bond 25 was headed.

We recently reported that the producers of the James Bond franchise were close to closing a deal to shoot the next movie in Croatia, possibly later this year. Again, if there is truth to this report, that would make sense. We will have to hold out until the folks at Eon Productions make some sort of official announcement, but for now, fans of Daniel Craig as James Bond can be cautiously optimistic about seeing him come back one last time.