Daniel Craig Shaken, Not Stirred Over James Bond Heineken Deal

Man who plays everyone's favorite secret agent offers up a justification as to why his alter ego will be sipping on a Dutch beer rather than his trademark mixed drink

By Josh Grossberg Apr 19, 2012 4:51 PMTags
Daniel Craig, Skyfall007.com

Forget the Vodka martinis—007 is a Heineken man these days. And not everyone is happy about it.

Daniel Craig is coming out in defense of a new sponsorship deal James Bond film producers have made with the Dutch beer maker that will see the dashing superspy swilling Heinekens instead of his usual signature cocktail.

Now that's a twist we didn't see coming.

MORE: James Bond Replacing Martinis With...Heineken?!

In an interview with Moviefone from the set of Skyfall, the 44-year-old thesp said that while it was "unfortunate," the filmmakers had to go ahead with the sponsorship out of financial necessity to help defray a sky-high budget.

"We have relationships with a number of companies so that we can make this movie. The simple fact is that, without them, we couldn't do it. It's unfortunate but that's how it is," Craig told the site.

The pact, reportedly worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $45 million, has drawn the ire of some Bond fans who accused the franchise of selling out in the name of the Almighty dollar pound. But the actor offered a very sensible explanation for the product placement—it's called show business.

"This movie costs a lot of money to make, it costs as nearly as much again if not more to promote, so we go where we can," he said. "The great thing is that Bond is a drinker, he always has been, it's part of who he is, rightly or wrongly, you can make your own judgment about it. Having a beer is no bad thing, in the movie it just happens to be Heineken."

Just remember, Daniel: beer before liquor, never sicker.

Meanwhile, per the latest videoblog at 007.com, the production has moved from the U.K.'s Pinewood Studios onto Shanghai.

Skyfall, which is being helmed by Sam Mendes, hits theaters Nov. 9.