If you’ve been paying attention to the rumor mill (aka certain websites that love to publish unsubstantiated rumors as fact to earn your click), then you might have seen all the reports that Tom Hardy is being groomed to become the next James Bond. Well, according to the woman that runs the Bond franchise, that’s not the case. In fact, they haven’t even started the process of finding the new 007 just yet.
Speaking to Total Film (via GamesRadar), Bond producer Barbara Broccoli was asked about the current status of the next James Bond. With Daniel Craig’s final film in the franchise, “No Time to Die,” scheduled to be released in April, who does Broccoli have coming in to take over the role for the new generation of film fans? Well, apparently the answer is nobody. Not yet.
“I always say: you can only be in love with one person at a time,” said the producer. “Once the film’s come out, then some time will pass, and then we’ll have to get on to the business of the future. But for now, we just cannot think about anything beyond Daniel.”
Okay, fair enough. Let’s wait for the corpse of Daniel Craig’s version of Bond to fully pass away before we trot out the next superspy. That makes sense. But what about the type of actor she wants to play Bond? Broccoli thinks that whoever takes over the role, they’ll put their own spin on the character and “reimagine” the suave spy.
“It will have to be reimagined, in the way each actor has reimagined the role,” she said. “That’s what is so exciting and fun about this franchise; the character evolves. Eventually, when we have to think about it, we’ll find the right person.”
Still vague, but okay. Does that mean there could be a non-white Bond? Sure. Or maybe even a female Bond? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s not get too crazy!
“He doesn’t need to be a white man. Not as far as I’m concerned,” Broccoli said. “We should create roles for women, not just turn a man into a woman.”
So, for those hoping that Idris Elba is going to be the next 007, you may be in luck. But if you were praying for a female Bond to really shake things up, then, well, not gonna happen, folks. Then again, this is hardly shocking, considering Broccoli has been adamant about this for months now.
“No Time to Die” is scheduled to arrive in theaters in April 2021. Maybe. We can’t definitively say anything at this point.
