No matter what happens to James Bond, the franchise marches on. This is especially true following Daniel Craig's spectacular bowing out of 16 years of playing the famous double-O agent after this year's smash hit No Time To Die and that ending. Bond talk since has been all about who could take the mantle next and legendary producer of the franchise, Barbara Broccoli, has ideas about who the next Bond shouldn't be.
Barbara Broccoli, along with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, controls the production company Eon Productions, which is responsible for the James Bond franchise. The two took over from their father Albert R. Broccoli, the original producer of the first Bond films. Broccoli herself started her Bond journey working in publicity for 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me and is particularly noted for hand-picking Craig for the coveted role. Though his casting was initially met with a certain amount of backlash, some now opine that Craig is the best James Bond so far. Broccoli has worked as producer on five Bond titles, from Casino Royale (2006) through to this year's No Time To Die.
Now the question on everybody's lips is: who's next? Not a woman, according to Broccoli. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the legendary producer gave her two cents on why a female Bond isn’t right for the franchise. “I don’t think a woman should play James Bond […] I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles,” she said. Broccoli went on to say how important she thinks it is to create new roles for women, as there aren’t enough out there at the moment. She added that her only caveat for the new James Bond is that he should be British, clarifying that this means any race or ethnicity, leaving the door open for a person of color to finally play the iconic mainstay of British film.
The original Bond blueprint, made famous with Sean Connery's portrayal, is famously mysogynistic. Craig gave the character previously unseen levels of depth and seriouness, and with it a refreshed relationship with women. The most recent Bond outing had Lashana Lynch playing Nomi, the new spy taking over the 007 tag after Bond's supposed retirement, and Ana de Armas as Paloma, who more-than holds her own working with Bond on a high-octane mission. It's a rewriting of the rules for the traditional Bond Girl and serves the franchise well, underlining Broccoli's point about making room for great new roles for women rather than just slotting them into already existing male ones.
There are always rumors about who will be the next Bond, especially now that Craig has officially left. But Broccoli is in no rush to replace the imitable Craig, stating she won't think about it until absolutely necessary. What the exact future of the character of James Bond will be remains to be seen, but fan-favorite Idris Elba may well be out of the running.
No Time to Die is now available on digital platforms.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter