With No Time to Die finally released and Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond now at an end, fans of the iconic spy have been left wondering what might be next for 007. Well, MGM President of Motion Pictures Pamela Abdy has revealed that the search is now underway for the next actor to slip into the coveted tux, and that development on the next Bond outing is in the early stages.
The creatives behind No Time to Die have always been clear that the quest for the next James Bond would wait until the release of No Time to Die, allowing Craig to enjoy the spotlight before the studio moves the franchise along. Though, considering that No Time to Die only hit theaters last month, it sounds like the search has kicked off quicker than many had perhaps expected…
“It’s wide open. We’ve had very early preliminary conversations with Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [Wilson], but we wanted Daniel to have his last hurrah.”
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
In fact, producer Barbara Broccoli recently stated that the studio would not even start looking for Daniel Craig’s replacement until 2022. “We’re not thinking about it at all,” the producer explained. “We want Daniel to have his time of celebration. Next year we’ll start thinking about the future.” If Abdy is correct and the hunt for the next 007 has already started, then something clearly changed behind the scenes. Perhaps they were all just too excited to wait.
So, who could the studio possibly be looking at to step up and lead the franchise following Daniel Craig’s hugely successful final outing? Well, excited fans have been communicating their perfect Bond actors for some time now, with the likes of Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Henry Cavill, and more recently Eternals star Richard Madden and Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page often topping the fan-casting list.
One surprising name that has now appeared is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, with the action superstar recently throwing his name into the hat. No doubt with an almighty pitch. “Yes, my grandfather was a Bond villain in You Only Live Twice with Sean Connery. Very, very cool,” Johnson said when asked if he would ever consider joining the James Bond franchise as a bad guy. Of course, The Rock had other ideas saying, “I would like to follow in his footsteps and be the next Bond. I don’t want to be a villain. Gotta be Bond.”
Daniel Craig meanwhile has since offered some rather sage advice to whoever is chosen to take over, simply saying, “Don’t f-ck it up.” With the actor now definitely, absolutely finished with 007, and despite his occasional loathing of the role, the actor has said that he will be sad to see someone else pick up the mantle. “It’s been incredible to do these films,” Craig said back in September. “It’s very emotional. I’m glad I am ending it on my own terms. I’m grateful to the producers for letting me do that. But I sure miss it. I’ll probably be incredibly bitter when the new person takes over.”
No Time to Die has now emerged as the highest-grossing Hollywood movie of the year, and is due for release on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD Collector’s Editions on December 21, 2021. This comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.
