With Daniel Craig’s retirement from the James Bond series a looming reality, fans have long speculated about who would be fit to take the place of the famous spy.
Watch below: A behind-the-scenes look at ‘No Time to Die’ in Jamaica
The idea of a female Bond has been widely celebrated by fans and industry icons alike, with actresses like the talented Priyanka Chopra being offered up as a replacement. However, according to those in charge, women won’t ever be considered for the role.
Half-siblings, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who oversee the James Bond films, and have been described as long maintaining an “iron grip on the franchise”, recently discussed the future of the series in an interview with Variety.
“He can be of any color, but he is male,” Broccoli said. “I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”
The pair have largely influenced the series’ casting decisions in the past – Broccoli, insisting on casting Craig despite widespread doubts that he fit the character.
In No Time to Die, Craig’s final film as Bond, his character will be introduced to Lashana Lynch, the franchise’s first-ever black and female 007. The film, which is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and co-written by Fleabag creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the 25th Bond film in the franchise.
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Early last year, Waller-Bridge spoke to Deadline about the relevance of the film to today’s audience, saying, “There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not [the ‘Bond’ franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women.”
“I think that’s bollocks,” she continued. “I think he’s absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn’t have to. He needs to be true to this character.”
Listen to our latest Finding Fearless episode with Jessica Mauboy below:
With Daniel Craig’s retirement from the James Bond series a looming reality, fans have long speculated about who would be fit to take the place of the famous spy.
Watch below: A behind-the-scenes look at ‘No Time to Die’ in Jamaica
With Daniel Craig’s retirement from the James Bond series a looming reality, fans have long speculated about who would be fit to take the place of the famous spy.
Watch below: A behind-the-scenes look at ‘No Time to Die’ in Jamaica