Variety reports that Daniel Craig will star in The Golden Compass, the first installment of an intended New Line trilogy based on the Philip Pullman series "His Dark Materials." Chris Weitz wrote the script and directs.

Craig will play Lord Asriel, a ruthless and mysterious adventurer who is the uncle of Lyra Belacqua, the young girl who journeys to a parallel universe to save her best friend.

Craig will be reunited with Eva Green, who played the "Casino Royale" Bond temptress Vesper Lynd. In The Golden Compass, she plays a witch who helps the young girl navigate a world filled with shape-shifting and otherworldly creatures.

If New Line goes forward with all three installments of Pullman's literary trilogy, Craig's character will be a fixture of each, based on Asriel's role in the Pullman books.

Craig and Green join Nicole Kidman and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards in "Compass," which begins production Sept. 4 in the U.K.

Craig will shoot the film and then return for the 22nd installment of the James Bond series, which has already been stamped with a May 2, 2008, release date.

Deborah Forte, Paul Weitz and Andrew Miano are producing THE GOLDEN COMPASS, which New Line will release in December 2007.