Idris Elba the next James Bond?
Among the numerous names that have been floated to play James Bond over the years, Idris Elba has been a constant favourite.
While his odds have fluctuated, it seems that the Luther star could still be in contention to take over the role from Daniel Craig, with producer Barbara Broccoli now confirming he has "been part of the conversation".
"Well, we know Idris, we're friends with him, and he's a magnificent actor," she told the Deadline Podcast. "And, 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."
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However, she added: "I think we have decided that until No Time to Die has had its run and Daniel has been able to – well, we've all been able to savour, reap the benefits of Daniel's wonderful tenure, we're not gonna think about, or talk about anybody else."
It comes after studio MGM's boss Pamela Abdy gave everyone an update last month on where things stand with the search for the next 007, saying that the field was "wide open":
"We've had very early preliminary conversations with Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [Wilson], but we wanted Daniel to have his last hurrah."
Broccoli herself confirmed in September that the next steps in the Bond franchise would begin this year, saying of the search for Craig's replacement: "We're not thinking about it at all. We want Daniel to have his time of celebration. Next year we'll start thinking about the future."
Meanwhile, back in 2019, Elba addressed the racist backlash by some to rumours of his casting, saying at the time: "You just get disheartened, 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."
He added of the possibility of taking on the part: "Of course, if someone said to me. 'Do you want to play James Bond?' I'd be like, 'Yeah!' That's fascinating to me. But it's not something I've expressed, like, 'Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond'."
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