James Bond producer says “whiteness is not a given” for Daniel Craig’s replacement
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James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has hinted that the next actor to play the iconic super spy could be a person of colour.
Ever since Daniel Craig, the seventh Bond, bowed out of the franchise with No Time to Die in 2021, the team behind the long-running franchise has been under intense spotlight to secure a replacement.
Broccoli and her brother, Michael G Wilson, have been stewards of the Bond empire since their father, legendary producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli, passed away in 1996. He and producing partner Harry Saltzman originally bought the rights to Ian Fleming’s novels in 1961, and the key decisions surrounding the franchise have remained with the Broccoli family throughout 25 films, $7.6 billion in box-office returns, and the Amazon purchase of Bond’s parent studio MGM in 2021.
At the 15th Governors Awards in Hollywood, Broccoli and Wilson spoke to The Associated Press about the future of Bond. Both were adamant that the films would remain cinematic endeavours rather than go straight to streaming. However, Broccoli did admit that the lay of the land in Hollywood is different these days, so there will be a certain amount of creative manoeuvring involved.
She said, “People are playing it very safe. I think in times of crisis like this, you’ve got to be brave. It’s certainly a new era in the movie business, so we’re trying to figure it out.”
To Broccoli, part of being brave involves thinking outside the box when picking the actor who will inherit the Bond mantle from Daniel Craig, who played the character five times. She admitted, “It’s a big decision,” before giving some hints about her line of thinking.
Broccoli confirmed that the new Bond will be a man more than likely in his 30s, but according to the news agency, “whiteness is not a given for the role”. Whoever is cast will also be expected to sign up for at least a decade of movies, and the Broccoli family is prepared for a period of audience adjustment when the new star is announced.
“Every time we cast a new actor, the films change,” explained Wilson. “It’s the excitement of a new Bond, a new direction. Every one of these people who took on the role offered something new and different.”
Who is rumoured to be the new James Bond?
The current frontrunner to fill the iconic super spy’s shoes is Aaron Taylor-Johnson, star of Kick-Ass, Bullet Train, and the upcoming Marvel supervillain movie Kraven the Hunter.
Rumours linking him with the role have been doing the rounds on the internet since Broccoli was reportedly impressed by his screen test in January 2023. Pierce Brosnan, who played Bond in four films, backed Taylor-Johnson, with whom he worked on 2009’s The Greatest. He said, “I think the man has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so.”
Plenty of other stars have been rumoured to be up for the role, though, including Henry Cavill, Regé-Jean Page, Tom Hardy, and Cillian Murphy. Another longtime fan-favourite pick is Idris Elba. However, as recently as April, Elba played down the idea due to his age. The 52-year-old told Chris Moyles on Radio X, “The rumour has definitely done. And I mean, I’m ancient now. I don’t know what kind of Bond I’d be.”
Nothing is known about what Broccoli and Wilson are imagining for the new film in a creative sense. However, that hasn’t stopped fans from putting forth their theories, which range from an adolescent Bond in the vein of Charlie Higson’s popular novels to a throwback, retro Bond set in the Cold War era of Fleming’s novels.
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