It's official. Marc Forster will direct the 22nd James Bond adventure, it was announced today by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, producers of the James Bond films, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

Forster is the acclaimed director of the highly anticipated motion picture "The Kite Runner," adapted from Khaled Hosseini's best-selling novel. He also recently directed the comic hit "Stranger Than Fiction" for Sony Pictures. Previously, Forster directed the award-winning and critically acclaimed films "Finding Neverland," which was nominated for seven Academy Awards® including Best Picture, and "Monster's Ball," for which Halle Berry won a Best Actress Oscar®.

Forster will commence work shortly with screenwriter Paul Haggis on a draft of the screenplay by Neil Purvis and Robert Wade. Daniel Craig will reprise the role of James Bond in the as-yet-untitled Bond 22 production, which follows Casino Royale, the highest-grossing film so far in the most successful franchise in motion picture history.

Bond 22 will begin filming at Pinewood Studios, London, in December 2007. Columbia Pictures will release the film worldwide on November 7, 2008. Wilson and Broccoli said, "We are delighted that Marc Forster, with his exceptional talent and unique vision, has agreed to direct our next James Bond film."

Forster said, "I have always been drawn to different kinds of stories and I have also always been a Bond fan, so it is very exciting to take on this challenge. The new direction that the Bond character has taken offers a director a host of new possibilities and I look forward to working with Daniel Craig, Barbara Broccoli, and Michael Wilson, as well as the team at Sony and MGM on this new film."