Tom Hanks' novel, titled The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, sheds light on the inner workings of Hollywood, in addition to serving as a reflection of his career as an actor. Casting is an important part of movie making, which Hanks points to in his book when stating who the next James Bond should be: Idris Elba.
Since Daniel Craig's iconic take on the character ended in No Time to Die, there have been many rumors about the next iteration of James Bond. These choices range from Henry Cavill, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Idris Elba, Michael Fassbender, and Hugh Jackman. However, one of these choices for James Bond has Hanks' vote, detailed in the Oscar-winning actor’s book.
In Hanks' book, the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming are used as an example to suggest why classic works of fiction should not be altered due to the change in sensitivities of a modern audience. Hanks uses this opportunity to propose that Elba should be the next James Bond. "Understand this," Hank says. "James Bond has a licence to kill. I would issue that licence to Idris Elba just based on the work that I've seen him do." As far as the actor knows, Elba was not chosen for James Bond. Elba expressed that it is an honor to be considered for the role, but from his perspective, there isn’t any truth to him being considered, especially since he is close with the producers.
Elba being close to the James Bond producers can be seen one of two ways: either it is because of this that the actor can say for sure that he was not in the running, or it could be more likely because of this that he is being considered. If it is the latter, then the information is being played close to the chest due to the magnitude of this legacy role. To aid in this option becoming a reality, the casting director, Debbie McWilliams, recently said that younger actors weren’t right for James Bond before Craig was cast, and Elba would certainly be closer to Craig in terms of having what it takes, rather than those that lacked “the mental capacity.”
However, the most recent claims suggest that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is in the running for James Bond. Even so, there’s nothing to suggest that there couldn’t be two radically different adaptations of James Bond on screen simultaneously, one played by Taylor-Johnson, and the other by Elba for a new trilogy, and a one-off adaptation.
Source: BBC