[via the Hollywood Reporter]

With his stoic demeanor, strong features and quick-trigger reflexes, Daniel Craig's nameless wanderer in "Cowboys & Aliens" is in many ways the face of the film -- and, surprisingly, its heart and soul, as his character gets not only to save the day but to discover -- and redeem -- the man he was. But in person, Craig laughs easily, and his enthusiasm for his co-stars and crew is fairly evident; in other words, he couldn't be more removed from the dour, dark gunslinger he plays on screen. We spoke with him in Montana.

When you read the script and you realize, 'I'm playing the classic Western man with no name,' how much fun is that?

Craig:  I was given the script, I read it, and I found my people, and I said, "That's amazing; it's great. I'd love to see this movie. I don't know why I'm in it." I sat down with (screenwriters) Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman and Jon (Favreau), and we talked about it. They said, "We want you to do it; we want you in it." It was a dream come true.

Was there a blink factor from the title, trying to reconcile the idea of how quick and brief the mental image of the title gives you versus the fullness of the film?

Craig:  Those two things were one of the biggest appeals that there was no shying away from the fact this is what it's called. We're not going to change the title. It's not "Lonergan's Progress" or "Dolarhyde's Dilemma": it's "Cowboys and Aliens," and that's what happens. Within that, you hire the best talent you can and a great director, and you tell a story. I hope the audience is going to get whipped up enough by the story and emotionally involved with the characters enough to care for them when the s**t hits the fan.

As yet unclear is how this project aims to compete with the previously announced, tonally similar non-remake starring Hilary Duff, "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde." That film, which would ostensibly star Duff as Bonnie and "Gossip Girl's" Kevin Zegers as Clyde, also claims to be based upon the "true" story. For better or worse, however, it appears stuck in development. It will be interesting, then, to see which of these enters production first.

Burger would be an interesting choice, in any case. "Limitless" was a slickly shot, breathlessly paced, well-produced film, especially remarkable for the way it made Bradley Cooper seem like a disheveled, ugly, vaguely unlikeable literary nerd before revealing him as the inhumanly handsome and recklessly charismatic movie star we've all come to know and uncomfortably worship. Assuming Burger could work similar magic with this more inherently prestigious material, the possibilities are intriguing indeed. The aforementioned original was nominated for 10 Oscars, after all, winning two.