We’ll have to wait until next year to find out who the next James Bond is going to be. According to franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, replacing Daniel Craig isn’t something they’ll be getting around to until 2022 at the earliest.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4, the producing duo said, “Oh God no. We’re not thinking about it at all. We want Daniel to have his time of celebration. Next year we’ll start thinking about the future.”
In regards to the outgoing Craig, Wilson said, “He’s been such a great Bond. Those are big shoes to fill. I can’t even [think if it’s] possible.”
The top favorites to play Bond next are Tom Hardy, Regé-Jean Page, James Norton, Luke Evans, Idris Elba and Henry Cavill. That said, the producers have made no indication that any of these actors are in the running. With Amazon’s acquisition of MGM, new influences may come about in the future in regards to who gets to take over the role next. Maybe Jeff Bezos has some Bond fancasts he’d really like to pitch. We simply do not know.
All that we know for certain is that there will be no women. Broccoli has said in the past that, “James Bond is a male character. I hope that there will be many, many films made with women, for women, by women, about women.” But not James Bond.
Whoever ends up taking over the role, they’ll have big shoes to fill. Daniel Craig portrayed Bond in 5 films over 15 years. During his tenure, the franchise shed its eccentricities and became much more grounded and gritty. Whether this tonal shift will be carried on or changed for the new actor is something we’ll likely have to wait even longer to see.
