'I could fail miserably [or] ... make the franchise last another 30 years,' new James Bond says.

Daniel Craig — one of 2005's most buzzed-about actors — is making an end-of-the-year appearance in "Munich," but he's already transitioning to becoming the next James Bond for "Casino Royale," scheduled to shoot soon.

And unlike typical Craig roles, the star said Bond is "never working class. ['Crash' writer] Paul Haggis has done a rewrite of the script and has written great dialogue. The lead girl part is fantastic, the characters are all fantastic. It's a Bond film. We're making a Bond movie first and foremost." Naming "From Russia With Love" as his favorite series installment, the 37-year-old star said although director Martin Campbell will be returning from "GoldenEye," the November '06 release (and 21st film in the series) will be unlike both those movies. "It's going to be very different from anything else ... it will have certain elements that will make it a Bond movie," including Ian Fleming source material, reportedly updated to change Bond's game of baccarat into the trendier Texas Hold 'Em.

"The cars are newer too," Craig laughed. "There's a lot of similarities with the book but yes, of course it's been updated. It has to be. It's a suspension of disbelief that we're renewing Bond, and that this is the first time you see him." Finally, he admitted, "Yes, I could fail miserably, but maybe I can do something that's different and make the franchise last another 30 years — as opposed to another three." Either way, he'll get to play with some cool toys and drink a lot of martinis. "I do that anyway," he grinned. ...

Shooting itself in Karlovy Vary has been confirmed to the "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung" to take place at the "Mühlbrunnkolonnade" (see picture) and at the historic "Kaiserbad", (see picture) which very much looks like a casino. The city will be paid about a 1000 Euros a day, and it is a part of the contract that the name of Karlovy Vary has to be mentioned in the worldwide marketing campaign. Still, it is not known if the town of Karlovy Vary will double for another location or if the actual action takes place in the Czech Republic.