007’s next outing will completely reinvent the James Bond series. According to producer Barbara Broccoli, the 26th Bond movie will reinvent who James Bond is… but they haven’t found an actor to take up the mantle just yet.
“Nobody’s in the running,” she said in a new story via Deadline. “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. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”
Broccoli’s comments were made during a BFI Fellowship dinner where she and Michael G. Wilson were honored for their fellowship. The pair were awarded their fellowships by series regulars Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris… and it seems that Fiennes couldn’t help but quip that he’s on-hand and ready to train up the new 007.
“[You] killed Bond,” he joked, referencing Daniel Craig’s exit in No Time to Die. “Naomie and I are the people to fix it. You find him and we’ll train him.”
Of course, Broccoli previously stated that the search for the next James Bond would begin in 2022 after Craig’s dramatic exit prompted speculation about who would become the world’s greatest spy in his wake.
“We're not thinking about it at all,” she said at the time. “We want Daniel [Craig] to have his time of celebration. Next year we'll start thinking about the future.”
Craig first portrayed Bond in the 2006 film Casino Royale. He reprised the role of 007 in 2008's Quantum of Solace, 2012's Skyfall, and 2015's Spectre, which have collectively grossed more than $3.1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Who will take up the role of Bond, James Bond? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
But it looks as though the search is on for the next 007. And it sounds as though it’s going to be an exciting time to be a secret agent.
Want to find out more about 007? Check out Broccoli's comments about why 007 can never be a woman and Daniel Craig’s advice for the next British superspy.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.