NBC NATIONAL NEWS — Super spy James Bond is bravery personified, but the man who plays him summoned his own courage to recruit Oscar winning director Sam Mendes for the latest 007 film, "Skyfall".

"I was at a party and he was there, and I had one too many drinks. And I just thought it seemed
like a great idea," Daniel Craig says.

With Mendes on board Craig set his sights on another Oscar winner, Javier Bardem, to play the villain.

"We tried to bring something classic to it. A humble homage to what the classic
Bond villains have been like in the last 50 years," Bardem says.

"Skyfall" is Craig's third Bond film, and it's on track to be the most profitable film in the series.

It's grossed almost $300 million worldwide, even before opening in the United States.

"Skyfall" hits American theaters today.

The online ticket selling site fandango reports that "Skyfall" is selling more than twice as many
Advance tickets as its predecessor, "Quantum of Solace."