Sony to announce new actor for Her Majesty Secret Service

Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Hollywood studio backing new Bond film "Casino Royale,"said on Wednesday that the actor who will portray the suave secret agent with a license to kill would be named at a news conference in London on October 14.

No further details were disclosed, and the mystery remains over who will star in the film franchise that has grossed nearly $4 billion at global box offices since the first Bond flick, "Dr. No," hit the silver screen in 1962, reports Reuters.

According to BBC, speculation over who will play 007 has been rampant since the last Bond movie, Die Another Day, came out in 2002.

Big names such as Clive Owen, Ewan McGregor, Jude Law and Colin Farrell have all been named as possible contenders.

But some parts of the media are convinced the role has gone to 37-year-old Craig, who rose to prominence in Hollywood alongside Tom Hanks in Road To Perdition in 2002.

He has since played poet Ted Hughes opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in Sylvia and headlined gangster film Layer Cake. He is also to appear in Steven Spielberg's new drama Munich.

The announcement will be made by movie studio Sony Pictures Entertainment in London.

Casino Royale will be an adaptation of author Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel and will be directed by GoldenEye film-maker Martin Campbell.

P.T.