Could it be the curse of the Scottish play? Daniel Craig's return to Broadway in a new version of Macbeth has been temporarily halted after the actor contracted Covid-19.

Thursday's matinee and evening performances were cancelled when the James Bond actor tested positive. In a tweet late Saturday night, the show said all performances were cancelled through Friday “due to the detection of a limited number of positive Covid test results within the company".

Craig stars in a revival of Williams Shakespeare's tragedy, with Ruth Negga making her Broadway debut playing Lady Macbeth.

Macbeth is playing the Longacre Theatre, with an opening set for April 28. Tony Award-winner Sam Gold is directing.

According to folklore, Macbeth was cursed from the beginning, when a coven of witches objected to Shakespeare using real incantations and put a curse on the play. Other productions have been plagued with accidents.

Craig was last on Broadway in a 2013 revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal opposite his wife, Rachel Weisz, and directed by Mike Nichols. Craig also starred opposite Hugh Jackman in 2009's A Steady Rain. Gold directed Craig in a 2016 off-Broadway production of Othello alongside David Oyelowo.

Other high-profile shows on Broadway have had to cancel shows due to their lead actor's contracting the virus, including both The Music Man leads, Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.