Daniel Craig Lines up His Next Big Movie Role

Daniel Craig is teaming up with another director known for their singular style. The former James Bond actor has signed up to star in Luca Guadagnino’s film adaptation of William S. Burroughs‘ novel Queer. Guadagnino is best known for his films A Bigger Slash, Call Me By Your Name, the 2018 Suspira remake, and his latest, Bones and All.

Craig’s involvement in Queer was first reported by Above the Line. Justin Kuritzkes, who wrote Guadagnino’s next movie, the Zendaya-starring Challengers, will write the script, reports Deadline. Guadagnino is now in the process of raising financing for Queer.

Burroughs wrote Queer between 1951 and 1953, but it was not published until 1985. It tells the story of Lee, an American college student living in Mexico City, surviving on part-time jobs and GI Bill benefits. It is written in the third person perspective. Lee pursues a young man named Allerton, who is loosely based on a real man Burroughs befriended in Mexico City.

Burroughs wrote Queer as a sequel to his first novel, Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict (1953). Steve Buscemi was close to directing an adaptation of the novel in 2011, with a script by Oren Moverman (The Messenger). Buscemi staged a reading of the script at the Sarasota Film Festival with Stanley Tucci and Ben Foster. That project never came to fruition.

Guadagnino shot to international stardom with his Desire Trilogy, made up of I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), and Call Me By Your Name (2017). He also directed the 2018 Suspiria remake, the HBO limited series We Are Who We Are (2020), and Bones and All. Although Bones and All received critical acclaim and stars Timothee Chalamet, the film has been a box office disappointment, only making $11 million worldwide. The Italian filmmaker just finished work on Challengers and is also developing an Audrey Hepburn biopic starring Rooney Mara.

Craig just starred in Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story, playing Detective Benoit Blanc once again. The movie was released to theaters during the Thanksgiving holiday, but Netflix declined to continue the theatrical run. The movie will be released on the streamer on Dec. 23. Johnson and Craig have already agreed to make a third Knives Out movie for Netflix. Craig’s final James Bond movie, No Time to Die, hit theaters last year.