While we are all eager to see who gets to take the baton fromDaniel Craig, the producers of theJames Bondfranchise are saying that we would need to exercise a lot more patience. Fan-casting has thrown up several names with the prospects to don the classic black tux but the process of deciding on the new Bond has not begun yet and according to producersBarbara BroccoliandMichael G. Wilson, the selection process will not begin until next year, at the earliest.
Speaking in a recent interview withEntertainment Weekly, Broccoli revealed that they “haven’t begun the hunt.” The franchise is set to undergo a massive overhauling that will set the tone for future films and at this point, the producers are yet to conclude on a new trajectory. “We’re going to be sort of sitting down and trying to figure out where the Bond series is going to go, and we need to do that first, to get a sense of that, before we start casting for the role. So we’ll start thinking about that sometime next year,” added Broccoli. “No one should be waiting by the phone yet,” Broccoli further emphasized in response to a follow-up question.
For the first time in the franchise’s history, the character of 007 was killed off inNo Time To Die, a move that has been widely perceived as a deliberate one in an attempt to set up the franchise for the future. The death of Bond in the last Craig-led film saw a woman,Lashana Lynch, step into the Bond role – another first in the franchise’s history, and while this sparked speculations that the next Bond might be female, Broccoli would later debunk this saying that while they are unsure of the personnel to replace Craig, they were certain that the next Bond would be “distinctly male and British” and will also be of “any race or ethnicity.” This revelation also led to the inclusion ofIdris Elbain the fan-casting list, but theThree Thousand Years of Longingstar seems indifferent about becoming the next man to receive the license to kill, recently commenting that he is “not that guy, but in everyone’s world I might be.”
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Producer Broccoli has also revealed that whoever would be the next Bond will be in for the long haul. Speaking in a separate interview withEmpireshe said; “When you hire an actor, you’re hoping you’re going to spend a decade at least with them and make four or five or six films with them. So you have to think through, ‘what is the trajectory? What is that actor going to bring? How are you going to move the series into another direction?'” Fans have also interpreted this to mean that the next Bond could be a much younger actor. Before deciding on the next 007, Broccoli also told Empire that the process would likely begin “with [writers] Rob [Wade] and Neil [Purvis] and we’ll see where we go!”
While we wait for the creative team to brainstorm the next trajectory, the franchise has decided to whet our Bond appetite with a nostalgic treat that will be streaming on Prime Video. To celebrate the occasion of its 60th anniversary,The Sound of 007, a documentary that will chronicle the history of the film’s iconic theme songs will premiere on Prime Video on October 5. Additionally, there is alsoa new vinyl setthat will include all the title songs, and it is currently available for preorder.
