James Bond producer says 007 shouldn't be played by a woman

James Bond has been around forever — because 1962 seems like forever ago. Dr. No was the first spy film to come from the Ian Fleming novels and 58 years later, we're set to get the 25th movie: No Time to Die, which hits theatres in April.While we've seen variations of Bond throughout the decades, we're never going to see the British spy as a woman. Producer Barbara Broccoli — who has overseen the franchise with her half-brother, Michael G. Wilson since 1995 when their father, Albert R. Broccoli, handed over the keys to the series — is making sure of that, saying in an interview that James Bond doesn't necessarily have to be white, but he will always be a man. "He can be of any color, but he is male," Broccoli told Variety. And while that might not seem in keeping with the Time's Up world in which we live, Barbara's reasoning actually kinda checks out."I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters," stated the 59-year-old. "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." Makes sense, right? We'd love a series of novels or the screenplay for a film that features a female POC superspy.

 

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Meet 00 agent Nomi (@lashanalynch ) in #NoTimeToDie... just don’t get in her way.

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Broccoli's opinion is in line with what Rachel Weisz (who happens to be married to current Bond, Daniel Craig) said in a 2018 interview with The Telegraph. "[Fleming] devoted an awful lot of time to writing this particular character, who is particularly male and relates in a particular way to women. Why not create your own story rather than jumping on to the shoulders and being compared to all those other male predecessors? Women are really fascinating and interesting and should get their own stories."While we're not really sure about the "jumping on to the shoulders" part, but Weisz is correct. Women are interesting and fascinating, that's just a fact.[video_embed id='1876655']RELATED: Billie Eilish pens the new 'Bond' theme[/video_embed]Considering how long the 007 franchise has been around, it could be argued that the films' demographic prefer James Bond looking like Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig. But it would be refreshing if the likes of Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Henry Golding or David Oyelowo were ever given the chance.With No Time to Die being Craig's fourth and final run as Bond (about which Broccoli is still in "total denial"), guess we'll have to wait and see just how daring casting is willing to go.

 

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“James Bond. Licence to kill. History of Violence. I could be speaking to my own reflection” Safin, #NoTimeToDie

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