Good news, Bond fans! The wokescolds aren’t going to ruin the main character anytime soon.
The question remains if the character itself can remain faithful to Ian Fleming’s creation as the badass, womanizing spy in the #MeToo era.
Variety published a rare, lengthy interview with the “gatekeepers” of the Bond franchise, and they discussed what future Bond movies would look like.
Barbara Broccoli and her half-brother Michael G. Wilson are the final say on the future of the Bond franchise.
“For better or worse, we are the custodians of this character,” says Barbara Broccoli, who oversees the franchise with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson. “We take that responsibility seriously.”
It’s an arrangement that was first hammered out by Broccoli’s father, the producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, when John F. Kennedy was president and the Twist was all the rage. Miraculously, that pact has prevailed through the decades and generations, enduring everything from corporate mergers and bankruptcies to shifting consumer tastes and geopolitical upheavals. The elder Broccoli died in 1996. but not before ceding control to his two children with the 1995 release of “GoldenEye,” a film that proved a sexist superspy, conceived by novelist Ian Fleming in the 1950s, still had a role to play in post-Cold War cinema.
In the interview, Broccoli spoke about the pretty clear vision of the types of changes to the character would and would not be acceptable. She says that although she is open to a non-white actor portraying the iconic character, a woman is right out. Broccoli prefers creating new strong characters for women rather than taking an existing male character and cast a woman in that role.
A woman simply would not behave the same way that James Bond does. Although, it’s clear that a female secret agent could be very compelling in her own right.
There are certain things the duo appears open to considering, and other conversations that are nonstarters, when it comes to selecting the next Bond. “He can be of any color, but he is male,” says Broccoli. “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.”
Source: Variety
This is very good news for the fans that have been begging for years for Idris Elba to be the new Bond.
Yeah, I can absolutely see that happening. Elba would make a fantastic James Bond.
