The search for a new James Bond star is always one of the most highly scrutinized casting processes in Hollywood. But while the casting team has dropped tidbits about the next actor’s age and nationality prerequisites, don’t expect Daniel Craig’s replacement to be announced any time soon.
In a new interview with The Guardian, longtime Bond franchise steward Barbara Broccoli explained that she hasn’t begun plotting the next iteration of the series.
“Daniel [Craig] gave us the ability to mine the emotional life of the character and also the world was ready for it,” Broccoli said. “I think these movies reflect the time they are in, and there’s a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter and we haven’t even begun with that.”
While Broccoli understands that the next era of the franchise will have to reflect a world that has changed a lot since Craig was introduced in 2006, she cites the series’ history as evidence of Bond’s ability to adapt.
“I go back to ‘GoldenEye’ when everyone was saying. ‘The cold war is over, the wall is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace and now there’s no villains,’” she said. “And boy was that wrong!”
Broccoli has recently been busy promoting her new Amazon reality show “007 Road to a Million,” which features contestants participating in an adventure competition inspired by the Bond movies. But despite her foray into television, she made it clear that she’s not interested in producing a scripted James Bond series.
“We make the Bond movies for the big theatrical screen,” she said. “Everything about the Bond movies is for audiences to see around the world on that format, so we’ve not wanted to do television.”
Still, Broccoli teased that there might be more expansions to the franchise on the horizon. She explained that she is open to rebooting the franchise for international markets and making spin-offs that change the ethnicity of the iconic spy.
“We haven’t quite gotten there yet, but I would love to see the various versions around the world, from Africa, India and Asia,” she said.
