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Have Our Worst James Bond Fears Just Been Confirmed?

Team Bond promises a 007 'reinvention,' terrible news for diehard fans

Who will be the next James Bond?

It’s one of the most-asked questions in the Hollywood ecosystem, and many news sites proclaim they have the inside track on the casting news.

  • It’s Tom Hardy!
  • No, Idris Elba is the odds-on favorite.
  • Wait, Tom Hiddleston is clearing his schedule for the gig.

They’re all wrong, says veteran Bond producer Barbara Broccoli. And nobody knows it better than Broccoli, who controls the franchise’s future.

“Nobody’s in the running,” Broccoli confirmed during a London event honoring both Broccoli and her brother, Michael G. Wilson, for their BFI Fellowships. The Deadline exclusive lets Broccoli reveal the decision-making process behind the franchise’s immediate future.

Everything she said is lousy news for 007 fans.

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It will take two years before the next Bond film goes into production, she said. That’s to be expected, since the time between Bond films has grown wider of late.

The pandemic made matters even worse.

Broccoli also shared the franchise’s next steps in a way that may shake, and stir, longtime fans.

“We’re working out where to go with him, we’re talking that through. There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film because, really, it’s a reinvention of Bond. We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time.

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Bond has endured, nay thrived, over six decades because it hasn’t drifted too far from those early years. Yes, Bond isn’t swatting co-stars on the rump anymore, but that was but a microscopic part of his character.

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Bond retained his license to kill and machismo no matter who donned his signature tuxedo. Lazenby. Moore. Dalton. Brosnan. Craig.

Each brought something fresh to the character without reinventing him. Sure, the gadget-heavy ’70s gave way to Craig’s throwback masculinity.

Bond, for the most part, remained Bond.

That held true even with “No Time to Die,” the most recent 007 outing. The press, and various performers tied to the film, suggested a new, woke Bond. The film itself, while an entertainment romp crushed by a tepid third act, clung to the franchise’s basics.

Is Broccoli suggesting the true end of an era? It’s hard to read her comments in any other fashion.

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That suggests a Jane Bond, a kinder, gentler Bond or something even more distant from the character’s core beliefs.

And, if recent events are any indication, taking 007 in a woke direction will mean shrinking audiences, and box office results. “No Time to Die” under-performed at the U.S. box office, and it was woke in marketing only.

What happens when Bond starts fighting for gender equality, not saving the globe? Longtime fans will look elsewhere for their thrills.

23 Comments

  1. My interest in 007 films ended, and I haven’t watched one since Pierce Brosnan got the part of JB. I never cared for him clear back to that TV show he was in back in the 80’s. For me, the best Bond, next to Sean Connery was Timothy Dalton. I don’t much care for Daniel Craig either.

    1. Aren’t they all? I liked Craig, but Sean Connery IS James Bond. That is the template. A woke version or reinvention will kill the character for good and end the franchise. You can make whatever “woke” spy films you want, if it’s good I shall keep an open mind. But to change Bond himself- end of the line for me.

  2. The next “James Bond” will be a gender queer transexual bipoc woman and no one will go see the movie because we are all bigots.

  3. She said nothing at all worthy of this clickbait.
    Reinventing means taking him back to his Fleming 60’s roots.
    What true fans want and need is a period piece with a Henry Cavil.

    1. That sounds better than some of the suggestions I’ve heard. Most ridiculous: making Bond a woman. There was a great graphic novel along those lines, called Modesty Blaise. I want Bond to be as true to the books and Sean Connery template as possible. He doesn’t need to be a throwback, a pig, or castrated. And the theme and instrumental music must continue as is.

      1. Modesty Blaise would be fantastic character for films ,especially with Willie Garvin.There was a film version tried but with poor storylines,poor acting and made on the cheap. If I remember correctly there were a few books,all written by Peter O’Donnell and I have often wondered why they haven’t made films of the characters but with a decent budget.

    2. The problem is most people keep naming people like Cavill or Idris who will be too old. Cavill will be 40 next year and Idris is 50. They need somebody to be around for at least 3 to 4 films. And with the next film producing a couple years off Idris will be 60 by the time a third Bond movie is ready to start filming and Cavill will in his 50’s by the time a third is done. And yes, I know Bond was in his late 30’s, early 40’s in the books. So Cavill could work initially. But unfortunately, those books weren’t taking place years apart unlike 3 to 5 years apart the movies will each take. . So, producers really need somebody that can age well into the role. Meaning the actor will be in his early 40’s by the 3rd movie. And that means start younger (i.e. mid 30’s). That said the worst thing they could do is have some 20 something play Bond. I’d rather see an Idris in his 60’s running around with walker than that.

  4. James Bond has always changed with the times. People are starting to fear change so much it’s scary. Change is inevitable. Popular characters get reinvented all the time (look at Batman). Learn to go with the flow a bit more.

  5. All I can say is the new Bond had bloody better NOT be White, or Cis-Gendered, or Male-Identifying, or British.

    1. hahah….if not a male or women what exactly is he or she…? No one, exactly!
      if you have a problem with skin color your racist, face it. look in the mirror

  6. Christopher Nolan thinks Bond should be re-booted back to the late fifties, or early sixties. And he’d love to direct. Sign me up.

    1. That ugly s***?! Going from a terrible gay remake of doctor who to a gay remake of james bond. Go ahead.

  7. A woke James Bond movie would be as disastrous as trying to make Amy Schumer sexy. It’ll turn into an unintended comedy with a car chase (where nothing crashes) and gunfights (where no one gets shot). The white male haters will hate it, and those looking for thrills won’t even bother to go. Making 007 a woman would be as successful as Oceans 8, and that killed a whole franchise. Good luck with that.

  8. Has everyone forgotten that James Bond died in the last movie? Hard to reinvent Bond in the present when he is dead. Seems that filled in the back story with Craig, so they do need to come up with something. Anyone can fill the role of agent 007, just not Bond.

    1. Exactly. What a stupid ending. Bond ended with die another day. these last five so called bond films have fealt nothing like bond. skyfall was close, but no cigar.

  9. Perhaps the time has come for the incredibly forgettable Bond films to “take a hiatus” for a decade or two and then relaunch with something interesting, different and fun. Cruise did a hell of a job with the MI series. Why does Bond feel so boring and unnecessary?

  10. do they want to make good movies and a profit or a woke political statment ? i dont get it i’m not paying good money to watch a political correct pieace of crap.

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