No Time to Die and Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli recently revealed Idris Elba has definitely been mentioned in conversations about who will replace Daniel Craig as the next Agent 007.
"Well, we know Idris, we're friends with him, and he's a magnificent actor," Broccoli teased in a new interview with Deadline. "And, you know, it's been part of the conversation, but it's always difficult to have the conversation when you have someone in the seat."
The producer added they're in no rush to name Craig's replacement and want to give fans the proper time to deal with his exit from the franchise before moving forward. Broccoli continued, "So, you know, I think we have decided that until No Time to Die has had its run and Daniel has been able to -- well, we've all been able to savor, reap the benefits of Daniel's wonderful tenure, we're not gonna think about, or talk about anybody else."
Broccoli's comments came just days after fans chose Elba as their top candidate to play the next Bond in an unofficial Twitter poll. The original post featured 10 possible candidates to play Bond, including Elba, Star Wars' John Boyega, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth, Black Panther's Michael B. Jordan and Venom: Let There Be Carnage's Tom Hardy.
For what it's worth, Elba's name has been mentioned as a fan-favorite to play Bond for more than a decade. Back in 2012, Skyfall actor Naomie Harris even teased that Elba had met with Broccoli, saying at the time, "I didn't realize that there was this talk and then I did a film with Idris and he said that he met Barbara Broccoli and that it does seem like there is a possibility in the future that there could very well be a black James Bond."
While no decisions regarding who will be the next Bond have been made, Spider-Man: No Way Home star Tom Holland also recently expressed interest in stepping into the role of James Bond, as well as revealed he previously made a pitch to Sony Pictures to make a young James Bond movie. "It didn't really make sense," Holland confessed. "It didn't work. It was the dream of a young kid, and I don't think the Bond estate were particularly interested."
Other actors who've thrown their names into the conversation in recent months include Black Adam's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and The Witcher's Henry Cavill, with Cavill saying in September 2021, "If [producers] Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [G. Wilson] are interested in me in any capacity to be a part of their movies, then I will gladly have that discussion with them, and that would be something I'd be very keen to explore further."
Source: Deadline