James Bond Producer Says Idris Elba Is "Part of the Conversation" To Be the next 007
If you've seen No Time to Die, you'll know that Daniel Craig's James Bond will not return. That means the search is on to find the next 007, and according to Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, Idris Elba's name is firmly in the hat.
Speaking to Deadline’s 'Crew Call' podcast, Broccoli, alongside her co-producer and half-brother, Michael G. Wilson, said that while no decision had been made about who would be picking up Bond's Walther PPK, Elba has been part of the succession conversation.
“Well, we know Idris — I’m friends with him and he’s a magnificent actor,” Broccoli said.
“You know, it’s been part of the conversation, but it’s always difficult to have the conversation when you have someone in the seat,” she continued. “I think we have decided that until No Time to Die has kind of had its run and Daniel has been able to — well, we’ve all been able to — reap the benefits of Daniel’s wonderful tenure, we’re not gonna think about or talk about anybody else, actors to play the role or storylines or anything. We just wanna live in the moment, the present.”
Back in 2019, Elba told Vanity Fair that while he would like to play James Bond, talk of him not being able to portray the character properly because of the colour of his skin was "disheartening".
“Of course, if someone said to me ‘Do you want to play James Bond?,’ I’d be like, Yeah! That’s fascinating to me," Elba said. "But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond.”
He continued, “When you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be.’ And it really turns out to be the colour of my skin. And then if I get it and it didn’t work, or it did work, would it be because of the colour of my skin? That’s a difficult position to put myself into when I don’t need to.”
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