A casting process that has gone through Eric Bana and Paul Bettany comes to an end: Variety reported this morning and New Line have confirmed to us that Daniel Craig will take the role of Lord Asriel in The Golden Compass movie. Craig is the current actor to hold the role of James Bond and his first film in the part, Casino Royale, is released this autumn. It also stars Eva Green, who plays Serafina Pekkala in His Dark Materials.

LOS ANGELES (Aug. 17, 2006) – Daniel Craig has joined the cast of New Line Cinema’s The Golden Compass, the highly anticipated adaptation of the first installment in author Philip Pullman’s bestselling His Dark Materials trilogy, it was announced today by New Line Production President Toby Emmerich. The film is scheduled for a Sept. 4 production start in the UK.

Craig, who will star as James Bond in the upcoming Casino Royale, will play Lord Asriel – a ruthless adventurer with a mysterious past – in The Golden Compass. He joins the film’s ensemble cast which includes Nicole Kidman, Eva Green and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards.

Based on author Philip Pullman’s bestselling and award-winning novel, The Golden Compass tells the first story in Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. It revolves around a young girl who travels to the far north to save her best friend. Along the way she encounters shape-shifting creatures, witches, and a variety of otherworldly characters in parallel universes. The Golden Compass is written and directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, Antz) and produced by Deborah Forte of Scholastic (the U.K. publisher of the His Dark Materials books). Paul Weitz and Andrew Miano of Depth of Field (In Good Company) are also producing. The Golden Compass is scheduled for a December 2007 release.

The Golden Compass also features an all-star production team that includes Academy Award-winning production designer Dennis Gassner (Road to Perdition, Big Fish), Academy Award-nominated costume designer Ruth Myers (L.A. Confidential, Emma), and Academy Award-nominated visual effects supervisor Mike Fink (X-Men, X2, Road to Perdition).