Daniel Craig's co-star Gemma Arterton, 22, has revealed the star needed a little extra height for certain scenes.

Gemma, who stands 5ft. 7in. tall, said: "Daniel is 5ft. 10in, but when they put me in heels I was taller than him and it didn't look good on screen. The whole point of Bond is that he is masculine and hunky and he has to be taller than his girlfriend.

"Daniel had to wear shoes with a lift to them and stacked heels for a few scenes - but he took it very well. He thought it was funny."

Daniel is one of the shortest actors to take on the James Bond role, with Sean Connery, 77, and Timothy Dalton, 62, both reaching 6ft. 2in, while Roger Moore, 80, and Pierce Brosnan, 55, are just a shade shorter at 6ft. 1in.

Danny DeVito will direct Morgan Freeman, Pierce Brosnan and Saoirse Ronan in "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle" – based on the bestselling young adult novel by Avi.

Ronan has been cast for the title character - a teen who makes a trans-Atlantic crossing from England to America in the 1830s. During the journey, she finds herself in the middle of conflict between the ship’s captain and his mutinous crew.

Brosnan has signed to play the ship’s captain and Freeman will handle the role of ship’s cook - who also helps Ronan on her journey.

Pierce Brosnan has seen off competition from fellow actors Bruce Willis and Richard Gere to land the title of most popular gay icon over 50 years old.

The former James Bond actor took 33 per cent of the vote, compared with Willis and Gere, who took 25 and 14 per cent respectively, while Indiana Jones actor Harrison Ford and Lethal Weapon star Mel Gibson scooped fourth and fifth places respectively.

The poll was compiled by online dating agency gay-PARSHIP.co.uk.

Danjaq's senior vice-president of global business strategy Keith Snelgrove may have a complicated job title but his approach to handling the Bond license is relatively simple: he wants to find entertainment partners that are going to be around for a while and that share the desire to make the Bond tie-ins as faithful to the movie properties as possible.

Danjaq feels that Activision is the partner he's looking for, so much so, in fact, that they're giving the game company the opportunity to release Quantum of Solace on the same day as the next Bond film.

Multiple Grammy winner Alicia Keys is now the front runner in the race to croon the theme song for the next James Bond flick. No official statement has been made, but an insider close to the production told E!Online.com that the "No One" singer has the inside track on the coveted soundtrack tune for Quantum Of Solace, the next film in the 007 franchise.

Amy Winehouse was initially considered for soundtrack duty, but reportedly never completed her song with producer Mark Ronson. Beyonce's name was also bandied about.

More recently such star-studded acts as Leona Lewis, Duran Duran, Jack White, Duffy and even Annie Lennox have indicated their interest in trilling the thriller theme.

Pierce Brosnan is more than happy to be rid of the James Bond franchise. In fact, the actor likens the role to 'making a pact with the devil' and admits that he is happy that Daniel Craig, and not him, is the face of the movies.

"You become an ambassador to a small country. Bond is an industry," Contactmusic quoted him, as saying. "You make your pact with the devil. You know that it will follow you. But you just hope you get yourself off the ropes. "I have no bitterness but I just feel exhausted by it," he added.

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James Bond historian Graham Rye has revealed that some of the Bond girls' names were inspired by the names of farms in southeast England.

Rye spent years studying maps of the county of Kent, where Bond author Ian Fleming lived, and discovered that Fleming used the countryside, pubs and buildings as settings for story segments.

Rye found out that Fleming's travels around Kent inspired him for characters like Moneypenny and Honeychile Rider.

"Scrutinising the maps of Kent, I was amazed to discover that on Romney Marsh there was in fact a Moneypenny Farm and a Honeychild Manor Farm. A few miles away, was The Hammonds Country Hotel. The Hammonds were the married couple who acted as housekeepers for M, the head of British intelligence and 007's chief," he added.

Top designer Tom Ford has been confirmed as James Bond's new tailor.

Daniel Craig has been trying on Ford's suits for months and now the designer has confirmed he's the man behind 007's new look at Milan Fashion Week in Italy.

He says, "A lot of people think if you wear conservative clothing your life is dull and interesting. "But James Bond is this character who is sophisticated yet he sleeps with three girls at once. ... His life is very interesting, so I thought it was a good fit."

The Ford deal ends Bond's links to the Brioni fashion house, which has styled the superspy character in the in his past five films.

James Bond film producer Barbara Broccoli has paid $38,000 for a kiss from Daniel Craig, who plays the suave British spy on screen.

Broccoli will also get kisses from Hugh Grant and Robbie Coltrane for her winning bid at the Great British Movie Event benefit for the National Film and Television School.

Bond's tuxedo from "Casino Royale" sold for $19,000.

The auction, held Tuesday, raised $800,000 for the film school.

R&B guru and pop singer-songwriter extraordinaire Ne-Yo has revealed Sean Connery's portrayal of James Bond is behind the theme for his new album - Year of the Gentleman.

He said: "Sean Connery is an absolute gentleman. His portrayal of James Bond was a lot of the inspiration for the album.

"I love his look, his swagger. The ladies loved him and all the guys wanted to be him.

"He never let people see him sweat and he had an answer for any situation. In essence, as Bond he was strong - regal but not bossy and confident but not conceited."

"I didn't see that coming," the actor tells Parade magazine. "I never thought of myself as being too old. It was startling to hear such things said about oneself, especially when you thought you were going down that particular avenue and then the door gets slammed in your face."

The Irish stud knew his days as 007 were numbered, but figured producers would give him one last hurrah before passing the torch.

"I thought we were going to do a fifth film," he says. "And I was going to take a gracious bow off the stage. Instead of that you're just told, 'Goodbye.'"

Daniel Craig has been rushed to hospital after slicing off the top of his finger while shooting the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

A source at London's Pinewood Studios said: "There was quite a lot of blood and it was decided he needed to go to hospital for emergency treatment."

Daniel was back filming just a few hours later.

It is the second time in two weeks he has been injured. Last week, he had eight stitches to heal a cut to his face.

Fleming, then a stockbroker, criticised those who thought a more aggressive approach was needed, whose opinions he described as "the dangerous counsels of the slaughterhouse brigade".

He believed a deal could be done with the future tyrant which would allow Germany to return to its pre-war strength in exchange for a strict disarmament pact.

Fleming's comments, which many in Britain shared, were set out in a letter, which is thought to have been stored unseen for decades.

Leona Lewis is reportedly set to sing the title track for the forthcoming James Bond film, 'Quantum of Solace'.

The Sun claims that producers of the movie have opted for Lewis over their initial choice, Amy Winehouse.

Winehouse had long been rumoured to record the track, however her producer Mark Ronson recently abandoned recording sessions with her after he felt that her personal problems were affecting her ability to work.

A source told The Sun: "It looks like Leona has finally won the race. She is seen as one of the few candidates who has the right profile both sides of the pond to do it."

Actor Sean Connery will launch his autobiography "Being A Scot" in August at the Edinburgh Book Festival.

Festival director Catherine Lockerbie told Canada's CBC that "this book has gone through more permutations than James Bond has had shaken-not-stirred martinis: different co-writers, different publishers." The memoir, she continued, will include Connery's thoughts on "many aspects of Scottish culture and life, including sport, architecture and, of course, the gothic tendency in Scots literature."

A tuxedo Daniel Craig wore in 007 film Casino Royale is among the lots at a star-studded movie memorabilia auction, to be held in London later this month.

Dumbass Jonathan Ross will host the Great British Movie Event on 17 June - a fund-raising dinner in aid of the National Film and Television School.

Other lots include an uncorrected proof of the first Harry Potter novel, signed by author JK Rowling.