Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, producers for the James Bond franchise, believe that the next actor to assume the role of the British super spy needs to be ready for a long-term, multiple film commitment.
"Any actor that would be thinking about this has got to think about how it would change their life," Broccoli told The Hollywood Reporter. "Daniel [Craig] certainly was reluctant when we first approached him and as I say about him, his life changed, but he did not change. He’s always been the same amazingly wonderful human being at the beginning as he is now. You become an ambassador for the cinema and people recognize you as being associated with the character. It’s got a lot of different elements to it. But the time commitment is certainly a long-term commitment, and not everybody is willing to do that -- multiple pictures over many years. Daniel’s done 16 years time."
Craig assumed the role of Bond in 2006 for Casino Royale, a reboot of the franchise that reimagined the MI6 agent as a grittier, more flawed man, somewhat closer to his depiction in the original novel series by Ian Fleming. His final portrayal was in 2021's No Time To Die, which ended his tenure on the character with a surprising sense of finality as Bond apparently died in an explosion.
Who Will Be the Next Bond?
With Craig's departure from the franchise, rumors have swirled about the next Bond actor, with everyone from Henry Cavill to fan-favorite choice Idris Elba entering public discourse. Despite all the speculation, Broccoli said in June that it would be at least two years before the next Bond film would begin filming, and the character would likely receive a substantial reinvention to keep him relevant for a new era.
"Nobody's in the running," Broccoli said at the time. "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."
Seven actors have played Bond in feature films thus far. These include Sean Connery -- who defined the live-action appearance of the character in 1962's Dr. No -- George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Craig. David Niven portrayed the spy in 1967's Casino Royale, one of the few Bond films that was not distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and had no involvement from the Broccoli family.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter