Daniel Craig marvels at Bond box office

NEW YORK, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- British actor Daniel Craig, who has starred in many acclaimed arthouse films, says he is amazed by how well his James Bond movies do at the box office.

The "Munich," "Sylvia" and "Infamous" actor starred as secret agent 007 in the enormous 2006 hit "Casino Royale," as well as its sequel "Quantum of Solace," which is already a blockbuster in the United Kingdom, where it opened two weeks ago. It opened in the United States Friday.

"It's great," Craig told UPI in New York Thursday about the numbers "Quantum" is racking up in England. "I don't really have any sort of benchmark. I've done one Bond movie that has been very successful and now I've done another Bond movie that's appearing to be very successful. Before that, when I did movies, box office was never really at the top of the agenda. Getting people to go and see it was probably the agenda, but not the numbers."

The success of his Bond movies has been "amazing," Craig said. "Obviously, I couldn't be happier because it might mean we might get to make another one."

Craig said he was pleased the filmmakers decided to make "Quantum" a sequel to "Royale," instead of a stand-alone adventure because he felt there was still more story there to tell.