London: Daniel Craig has defended why Heineken beer replaced the traditional “shaken not stirred” martini in the new James Bond movie ‘Skyfall,’ insisting that it helped finance the blockbuster film.

Both fans and critics were upset, when producers of ‘Skyfall’ announced that the agent with the licence to kill would be swapping his signature martinis for Heineken’s lager, claiming a sacred tradition had been broken.

“A movie like this costs 118 million dollars to make - it’s the nature of it, the size of the movie. And it costs another 200 million dollars to sell it. So the 200 million dollars has to come from somewhere,” the Daily Express quoted him, as telling Vanity Fair magazine.

“Product placement, whichever way you look at it, whether you like it or you think it’s disgusting or whatever, it’s what it is.

“Heineken gave us a ton of money for there to be Heineken in a shot in a bar... Without them, the movie couldn’t get sold,” he said.

The 44-year-old actor also quipped that the superspy doesn’t discriminate when it comes to booze.

“He likes a lot of drinks - Heineken, Champagne. It’s all in there,” he said.

ANI