An Academy Award winning role for actor, Daniel Craig!

If you don't know who Daniel Craig is, then shame on you. I have only three words to say: Bond, James Bond. Yes, Craig is the new James Bond, and he has made a believer out of all the "Bond" fans who were skeptical about him assuming the role. Though I grew up with Sean Connery as Bond and loved Pierce Brosnan in the role, Daniel Craig has brought new life and intensity to the character that simply blew me away with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. But James Bond isn't the only role Daniel Craig has played over the years. He has had strong supporting roles in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Road to Perdition, Munich, Sylvia, The Jacket (I didn't even recognize him at first in the role of the crazy man), Definance and two-dozen others. He has Cowboys and Aliens coming out in August of this year with Harrison Ford (that's Bond and Indiana Jones in the same film), and The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo scheduled for early 2012. This performer is definitely a man's actor (much like Sean Connery was), and he keeps getting better and better with each upcoming role he plays. I dare say that an Academy Award in waiting for Mr. Craig in the immediate future. Maybe even for the role of Captain Francis Crozier in the historic novel, The Terror, by Dan Simmons. With Craig's star power right now, he could easily get The Terror off the ground as a theatrical film. But, what is The Terror about?

The Terror deals with the two ships and 126-man expedition into the Arctic Circle region in 1845 by Sir John Franklin, who hoped to find the infamous Northwest Passage. In September of 1845, the two ships (H.M.S. Erebus and H.M.S. Terror) found themselves trapped in a pack of crushing ice with no visible escape in sight. There was no worry at the time since both ships were heavily loaded with coal for heat, canned goods and salt pork for food, and the belief that the ice would eventually thaw and allow them to search for the waterway that would carry them to Alaska and then Russia. That wasn't to be. The ice never thawed, and the ships and men were trapped for three incredibly long years with dwindling supplies, poisonous canned food, the illness of scurvy takings its toll, and the freezing temperatures that averaged -50 Below Zero and colder. But, that wasn't the worse of it by far. Something roamed the ice that was both vicious and cunningly intelligent, and it had a distinct taste for human flesh. This uncanny creature began to slowly kill the members of the expedition one and two at a time, including the Commander of the crew, Sir John Franklin. When the Commander was killed, the duty of saving the remaining men fell into the hands of Captains James Fitzjames and Francis Crozier, but it's Crozier who takes the lead, having a strong instinct for survival and an intrinsic authority for leading men. The only way to escape their perilous predicament was to walk back out the way they'd come, across hundreds of miles of frozen ice while being stalked by something that doesn't want them to get away.

The role of Captain Francis Crozier was made for Daniel Craig. It's also the type of role that could easily win a lot of awards for the actor and the director and the rest of the crew. With a director like Ridley Scott on board and Daniel Craig in the role of Crozier, this could be the blockbuster of 2014 or 2015. I've been a long-time fan of author, Dan Simmons, and consider The Terror to be the most frightening of his works and possible the most litereary. The fact that it's also based on a true story adds to the stark realism of the story. This is certainly a novel that deserves to be turned into a feature film. If I had a hundred million dollars, I would finance the film myself. Of course, if I had a hundred million dollars, I'd probably buy a new Aston Martin first, followed by a great pair of sunglasses, and a tailor-made tuxedo. Then I could walk into the Mandalay Bay casino here in Las Vegas and say my name is, "Rogers, Wayne Rogers."