• e-mail

His claims that his return as James Bond was 'up in the air' left fans shaken and stirred.

But Daniel Craig performed a dramatic twist by confirming he would reprise his role as 007 - following reports that he was offered $135million (£100million) to return.

It was a very rapid U-turn on the part of the 49-year-old, whose most recent appearance as the British spy was in 2015's Spectre.

Scroll down for video 

I spy: Daniel Craig confirmed he will return as James Bond during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday

Craig, who is the second longest serving Bond after Roger Moore, previously suggested he was done with the franchise after his fourth appearance as the iconic spy in Spectre.

During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, he was asked if he would be playing the iconic role for a fifth time.

He replied: 'Yes. I couldn't be happier. I've been quite cagey about it.

'I've been doing interviews about it all day and people have been asking me and I've been kind of coy but I kind of felt like, if I was going to speak the truth, I should speak the truth to you.'

The star admitted he 'always wanted to return' to the role, but confirmed the next Bond movie will be his last. 

He added: 'I think this is it. This is it. I just want to go out on a high note, and I can't wait.'

It will mean Craig will have played Bond five times, although he is still behind Sir Sean Connery's six appearances and Sir Roger Moore's seven films.

But Craig is the highest paid Bond of all time, raking in an estimated $50million (£39million) for Spectre alone, which is more than the any of the other actor's earnings for their respective films combined.

Next in line is Pierce Brosnan, who is understood to have netted around $36million (£28million) for his four Bond pictures between 1995 and 2002.

Craig's 2019 film will also mean he is the second oldest Bond actor at 51, again after Sir Roger who appeared in A View To A Kill in 1985 aged 57.

Never say never again (please): It had already been reported he was poised to make his fifth appearance as Bond following talks with franchise producer Barbara Broccoli

The 49-year-old actor, who is the seventh Bond and has starred in four movies, insisted the hold-ups were nothing to do with pay as he admitted, undoubtedly to fan's delight, that he would 'love to do it'. 

This comes amid reports that he was reportedly offered $150 million (£113million) by executives.

'The studio is desperate to secure the actor's services while they phase in a younger long-term successor,' a source told Radar Online. 

Earlier that day, Daniel told US radio show Morning Magic 106.7 that nothing had been confirmed about his future with the franchise, as it was all up to 'personal decisions'. 

On his way: Daniel was seen heading into The Late Show on Tuesday as he looked like Bond himself in a slick leather jacket 

A fond farewell! The happy star was headed out after his appearance on the show

Daniel previously hit the headlines for saying he would only do another Bond film 'for the money', and would rather 'slash [his] wrists'than star in one again. 

But the actor - who played 007 in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre - has admitted that comment was 'really stupid'. 

He added: 'Look, there's no point in making excuses about it, but it was two days after I'd finished shooting the last movie, I went straight to an interview, and someone said, 'Would you do another one?' Instead of saying something with style and grace, I gave a really stupid answer.'

Earlier in the day he had studiously given nothing away away as he appeared on US radio show Morning Magic 106.7, where he said nothing had been confirmed as it was all up to 'personal decisions'.

The actor, who is the seventh Bond, insisted the hold-ups were nothing to do with pay as he admitted, undoubtedly to fan's delight, that he would 'love to do it'.

Driving them to drink: Fans were shaken when he earlier said nothing had been confirmed as it was all up to 'personal decisions'

Role of a lifetime: The British actor pictured in the 2012 film Skyfall 

However he will surely be raking in more than ever before to play the iconic Ian Fleming character in what could be his final appearance.

Earlier this year, it was reported he was poised to make his fifth appearance as Bond following talks with franchise producer Barbara Broccoli. 

He prompted speculation over the identity of his successor by insisting he would prefer to 'slash his own wrists' rather than reprise the role after completing work on his last appearance as the secret agent in 2015 blockbuster Spectre.

But Page Six reported his potential replacement Tom Hiddleston, once a front runner for the coveted role, has effectively been ruled out by Broccoli following a series of encouraging talks with Daniel.

Things seemed set to remain as up in the air as ever, as he revealed on Tuesday: 'I'd hate to burst the bubble, but no decision has been made at the moment.

Stellar cast: He starred alongside Russian model turned actress Olga Kurylenko in the 2008 film Quantum Of Solace

Popular: Craig enjoyed enormous success in the years following his first appearance as Bond in 2005 hit Casino Royale

Star of the show: 'It's just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. I know they're desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet'

'There's a lot of noise out there and nothing official has been confirmed and I'm not, like, holding out for more money or doing anything like that. 

'It's just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. I know they're desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet.' 

Sources claim Hiddleston's high profile romance with American pop star Taylor Swift, coupled with a bizarre acceptance speech at the 74th annual Golden Globes, during which he relayed an awkwardly expressed anecdote about aid workers in impoverished south Sudan warmly greeting him after watching his TV drama The Night Manager, also failed to impress Broccoli.

Craig enjoyed enormous success in the years following his first appearance as Bond in 2005 hit Casino Royale.

Headed back: Daniel Craig fans will no doubt be ecstatic that he is reprising the iconic role 

Comeback? 'It's just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. I know they're desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet'

The actor has played 007 on three further occasions, but he appeared adamant that the Sam Mendes directed Spectre, in which all four of Craig's Bond film's are neatly tied together, would be his last during an interview with Time Out.

'I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists,' he told the magazine in 2015. 'We're done. All I want to do is move on,'

He added that if he did another movie, 'it would only be for the money.'

Craig was paid $17million (£13million) for 2012 smash Skyfall, making him the highest-paid Bond actor ever, while the film was the first Bond movie to break the one billion dollar mark.

Its enormous success led to Craig reportedly brokering a deal to be paid $39million (£31 million) for his next two 007 films, including Spectre, the 24th film in the franchise, although that figure rose to around $59million (£39million) due to endorsements and profit share bonuses.

'I'm contracted for one more but I'm not going to make predictions,' he told Event in September 2014. 

Off we go: Craig was paid $10.7 million for 2012 smash Skyfall, making him the highest-paid Bond actor ever; the film was the first Bond movie to break the one billion dollar mark

Banking Bond: How Daniel Craig's massive new deal compares to what previous stars were paid

Sir Sean Connery

Although actors fees have risen astronomically since Sir Sean Connery donned his stylish suit for the first James Bond film Dr No in 1962, his $17,000 (£13,000) still seems fairly paltry for the time.

Sir Sean, often described as the definitive Bond by fans, went on to bank a lot more over his six films as the success of the franchise soared.

Sir Sean Connery, pictured fighting Oddjob in Goldfinger, was the first man to play James Bond but was paid just $17,000 for Dr No

He was paid $250,000 (£200,000) for From Russia With Love and then $500,000 (£390,000) for Goldfinger.

His earnings rose to $750,000 (£580,000) for Thunderball before hitting $1million (£780,000), in 1967 for You Only Live Twice.

A fall out with producer Albert Broccoli saw Sir Sean resign the role ahead of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but he was tempted back for a huge pay day of $6.7millon (£5.2million) for his final film Diamonds Are Forever in 1971.

George Lazenby

Often known as the odd Bond out, having appeared in just the one film, Australian model and actor George Lazenby was paid around $80,000 (£60,000) for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

He got the role aged 29, making him the youngest actor to portray the character, but was a controversial choice due to his lack of experience.

Australian model George Lazenby was a surprise choice for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where he is pictured alongside Telly Savalas as villain Blofeld, and was paid only $80,000

Other actors including Desmond Llewelyn, who played Q, and Diana Rigg who played Bond's wife Tracey in the film, both criticised the decision to use Lazenby.

The Australian announced he would be leaving the role shortly before the film's release, claiming the producers 'disregarded all his suggestions because he had not been in the film business before'. 

Sir Roger Moore

The Bond producers had their eye on Sir Roger Moore to take over the role when Connery first quit, only to be curtailed due to his commitments to TV show The Saint.

Sir Roger finally got the role in 1973's Live and Let Die and went on to become the longest serving Bond at 5,118 days in the role, around 800 more than second-placed Daniel Craig.

He has also appeared in the most Bond films with seven, making the role his own until 1985's A View To A Kill.

Sir Roger Moore, pictured as Bond in Octopussy, raked in around $24million for his seven Bond films between 1973 and 1985

Sir Roger was paid $1million (£780,000) each for his first three films - Live and Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun and The Spy Who Loved Me - before his pay packet rose to $4million (£3.1million) for Moonraker.

He earned $4.6million (£3.5million) for For Your Eyes Only and $5.2million (£4million) for Octopussy before ending his run with $7.5million (£5.8million) for A View To A Kill.

But his combined earnings, around $24million (£19million), were well short of what Craig earned for Spectre alone.

Timothy Dalton

As Bond moved into the late 1980s, a more serious actor was chosen to portray him in a shift away from the camp era of Sir Roger Moore.

Timothy Dalton was picked to bring more steel and sensibility to the secret agent for The Living Daylights in 1987, earning $3million (£2.3million).

Timothy Dalton, centre pictured in Licence to Kill, only played Bond twice and earned around $8million for both films combined

He would only reprise the role once more in Licence to Kill in 1989, earning $5million (£3.8million), despite having a three-film contract.

But the series then entered developmental hell in the early 1990s as disputes between MGM studios and Bond producer Albert Broccoli's firm Danjaq over the rights to the character caused major delays, leading to Dalton departing the role. 

Pierce Brosnan

In a similar vein to Sir Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan was eyed up for the Bond role before Dalton was cast, only for television commitments to get in the way.

But after legal issues around the rights were resolved in the early 1990s, Brosnan was picked to revive the series for 1995's GoldenEye.

The suave Brosnan is credited with bringing Bond into modern times, although he earned much less than his predecessor after being paid just £1.2million (£930,000). 

Pierce Brosnan, pictured right as Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies alongside Desmond Llewelyn as Q, was the previous highest earning Bond with $36million

His salary then skyrocketed for 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, for which he was paid $8.2million (£6.3million), and then jumped to $12.4million (£9.6million) for The World Is Not Enough in 1999.

Brosnan's last performance as Bond came in 2002 for Die Another Day, for which he took home $16.5million (£12.8million), a then record fee for a Bond actor.

It also meant he left the role as the highest earner across the board, even though he only appeared in four films.  

Daniel Craig

After Brosnan announced he was quitting the role in 2004, Daniel Craig was picked to replace him and drew a lot of press attention as the first 'Blond Bond'.

Much like previous actors to take over the role, he earned much less than his predecessor for his first film after he was paid $3.2million (£2.5million) for Casino Royale in 2006.

But in a reflection of the explosion of money made in the film industry in the past decade, his salary more than doubled to $7.2million (£5.6million) for Quantum of Solace in 2008, and then again to a basic package of $17million (£13million) for Skyfall in 2012, plus considerable bonuses.

His total pay packet for Spectre in 2015 is thought to have hit $50million (£39million) thanks to endorsements and bonuses, including a basic salary of $24million (£18.5million), making him comfortably the highest paid Bond.

And with another $135million (£100million) reportedly coming his way for his fifth Bond film in 2019, it is no surprise he is willing to reprise his role. 

The name's.. Craig was paid $10.7 million for 2012 smash Skyfall, making him the highest-paid Bond actor ever; the film was the first Bond movie to break the one billion dollar mark