'I've been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it,' Craig admits. Meanwhile, was Javier Bardem really once offered the role of Bond?

Daniel Craig has suggested that the finish line for himself as James Bond is not far away, during an interview with Rolling Stone to promote new 007 adventure Skyfall in the US. Despite having recently signed on to star in at least two more Bond films, Craig revealed he had been planning to end his stint as the suave British secret agent.

"I've been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it," he told the magazine. "But they won't let me go, and I've agreed to do a couple more, but let's see how this one does, because business is business and if the shit goes down, I've got a contract that somebody will happily wipe their ass with."

It is not known when Craig conducted the Rolling Stone interview, but it is quite likely that it was some time before Skyfall wowed critics and drove all before it at the box office, in the process becoming one of the most successful Bond films of all time. Sam Mendes's movie has just passed the $320m mark at the global box office, according to some reports, and is set to hit $400m (£251m) by the end of the weekend even without factoring in its debut tomorrow at the US box office.

Industry reports suggest Skyfall will take at least $70m (£44m) in North America on opening, beating the previous best for a Bond film, $67m for 2008's Quantum of Solace. The 23rd 007 outing is well on course to become the highest-grossing film in the series so far, ahead of the $594m total posted by Craig debut Casino Royale in 2006.

Meanwhile, Spanish actor Javier Bardem (who plays villain Silva in Skyfall) has "revealed" he was once offered the role of 007 but turned it down. Bardem told CinemaBlend: "Years ago, I was [offered Bond]. I don't remember what movie it was for. But yeah, it just was not that time. I didn't feel that it was the time for me to do something like that. And also, I was doing something else, so I passed. This time, when I read it, I felt that it was very powerful material, and I wanted to join [a Bond movie]."

The Oscar-winner added that he did not regret passing up the opportunity. "No. I have passed on many things that I could easily regret, but I don't regret any of them, because that also gives room for something else to come that I'm proud of," he said. "Even if those things were not beautifully executed, those were the things that I believed in at the time."

CinemaBlend is claiming Bardem's comments as an exclusive, but it is not clear whether the actor misunderstood the question and thought he was being asked if he had been offered a role in a Bond film, rather than the part of 007 himself. Production company Eon usually casts actors who can at least appear to be British, and Bardem is about as Spanish as they come.