007 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have charted a new direction for James Bond after the final of the Daniel Craig tenure. Once they find a new actor to play Bond, of course. In a new interview with EmpireBroccoli explained how the new actor and the new direction go hand in hand, with each decision helping to inform the other.
“When you switch actors, you have to rethink the direction the movie is going to change. When you hire an actor, you hope to spend at least ten years with them and make four, five or six films with them. So you have to think about it.” “What’s the trajectory? What’s that actor going to bring? How are you going to steer the series in a different direction?”
A-list names such as Henry Cavill, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Aidan Turner and Regé-Jean Page often top the fancasting lists for the following James Bond — but Broccoli reveals that the decision is a lot more complicated than people might think.
“It’s not just flipping through Spotlight and saying, ‘Oh, there’s a six-foot guy” We’re taking our time. We want to get a sense of where we want the series to go and we want to do that before we hit anyone else.” We’ll probably start the process with [writers] To rob [Wade] and Neil [Purvis] and we’ll see where we go!”
So it sounds like we’ll be waiting a while to find out who will take over the mantle of 007 and wield a license to kill. The team behind the James Bond franchise is now in a much tougher position than ever before, with Bond getting killed for good at the end of this year No time to die. So audiences expect more from a full-scale reboot, with rumors that Broccoli and Wilson are looking for a much younger actor to take the lead.
Broccoli & Wilson have seemingly ruled out Idris Elba as James Bond
The Suicide Squad and Luther star Idris Elba is almost always near the tippy top of many a wish list, but Broccoli and Wilson have seemingly ruled him out of the race. With reference to the commitment required for the James Bond franchisee. “We love Idris. The point is, it’s going to take a few years,” Broccoli said earlier this month. “And when we cast Bond, it’s a 10, 12-year commitment. So he’s probably thinking, ‘Do I really want that thing?’ Not everyone wants to do that. It was hard enough to [Daniel Craig to do it].”
More importantly, Elba has pretty much ruled herself out, with the actor saying, “I’ve run out of answers to it. I’m just telling people, ‘Ah, don’t ask me that.’ Because often it’s really lazy journalism,” in response to the constant questions about his attachment to the role of 007. “And people try to use it as clickbait, like ‘what’s he going to say this time?’ I try to say the same things every now and then I just tease them, but every now and then I’ll give them some philosophy on why I don’t want to do it or why it’s a rumor But now I tend to be there mostly don’t talk about it,” he concluded, no doubt hoping he’d left the issue forever.
So, what do you think this new direction is for? James Bond could/should be?