JAMES BOND Producer Says Bond Will Always Be Male, But New Characters Should Be Created For Woman
Over the years as there has been talk among fans of who could replace Daniel Craig as James Bond, having a woman take on the role has been brought up multiple times. There are a good amount of people that would have liked to see something like that happen and it may seem to some like a progressive move, but not franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
During a recent interview with Variety, the producers talked about the franchise and the future of the character. One thing they made sure to point out was that there are no plans for a female Bond. The character will always be male. Broccoli explained:
“He can be of any color, but he is male. I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”
Broccoli makes a good point there and understands the character Bond and that he is very much rooted in masculinity. It makes so much more sense to just create new strong and empowering female characters.
The producers do go on to say, however, that they are also interested in “shaking up the formula” after Craig is done with the character. No Time To Die will be his final Bond film. They offer no details on what shaking up the formula means, but I’ll be looking forward to finding out.
One other interesting bit of Bond movie trivia they offered up in the interview is that Halle Berry’s Bond girl character Jinx from Die Another Day, almost got her own spinoff film. They were really fighting for it, but in the end, the report says that “MGM got cold feet about the film’s $80 million budget.” That’s a decision that “left Broccoli incensed.”
It’s also said that a Bond TV spinoff was pitched that would have focused on a teenage version of James Bond. It was described as a Smallville-like TV series, but thankfully, Broccoli and Wilson were completely against the idea. But, how can we forget the 90s animated series, James Bond Jr.!
What do you hope to see from the future of James Bond after No Time To Die?