Daniel Craig's
gay kiss the talk of Venice

No doubt there are plenty of on-screen kisses in store for Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. But none will be more talked about than the one that premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Craig plays one of the men who brutally murdered a Kansas farm family in Infamou s, which examines Truman Capote's emotional journey into the minds of two killers that formed the core of his true-crime novel, In Cold Blood.

An attachment grew between Capote and confessed killer Perry Smith during the long periods the author spent in Kansas teasing out their story, and in a pivotal moment the two men kiss.

"I never dreamed I'd kiss James Bond," quipped Toby Jones, the British actor who plays Capote. "Now that I've done it, I say I hope I'm just the first of many."

Director Douglas McGrath said Craig was not a recognizable screen presence to most moviegoing audiences when he cast the 38-year-old actor for his movie, which also stars Sandra Bullock. "That isn't going to be the case in [a few] weeks," McGrath said.

Craig missed Thursday night's premiere, reportedly to finish work on the Bond picture, Casino Royale, due out in November.

While the Bond movie will enjoy a much wider release, McGrath said the close timing is good for both films--and a good opportunity for audiences to see what Craig is made of.

"For people to see Daniel as Perry Smith, a low-class, uneducated, vile misfit, and then to see him as James Bond--it offers an immediate comparison and shows what kind of range he has," McGrath said.

Infamous was shown out of competition in Venice. The movie was in production just a bit behind last year's Capote, which examines roughly the same period of the author's life.

McGrath said the studio held his film back so that the two movies would not get in each other's way. (AP)