James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli says it will be quite some time before 007 hits the big screen again, as the secret agent is undergoing a reinvention.

"It's a reinvention of Bond," Broccoli told Deadline, referring to the next chapter in the James Bond franchise. Broccoli also said that it will be “at least two years" before the next film even begins filming, quashing any rumors of a quick turnaround following No Time to Die, which saw Daniel Craig reprise the iconic role one final time.

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Regarding who could take over for Craig, Broccoli​​​​​​​ said that "Nobody's in the running. 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."

Broccoli's comments come following an insider report that claimed that Idris Elba was in talks to take over the role. "Idris has long been in talks to play a role in the next era of James Bond’s story and last year was being considered for a role as an antagonist," the report read. "However, talks surrounding him playing the lead have started again as producers realized how popular he would be after carrying out secret market research."

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Broccoli herself indicated in early 2022 that Elba was being considered for the job. "Well, we know Idris, we're friends with him, and he's a magnificent actor," she said. "It's been part of the conversation, but it's always difficult to have the conversation when you have someone in the seat."

Elba has also expressed interest in the role while acknowledging the complexities and pressures that woudl come with taking on such a storied character. "If someone said to me ‘Do you want to play James Bond?,’ I’d be like, Yeah! That’s fascinating to me. But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, 'Yeah, I wanna be the Black James Bond.'" He added, "You just get disheartened when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be.’ And it really turns out to be the color of my skin... And then if I get it and it didn’t work, or it did work, would it be because of the color of my skin? That’s a difficult position to put myself into when I don’t need to."

Source: Deadline