‘We’re reinventing him’: James Bond producer says next film won’t start shooting for years

Producer said the search for the actor to replace Daniel Craig hasn’t even begun

James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has said that the search for the new 007 hasn’t even begun yet because the famous character is being “reinvented”.

For years, there has been speculation over which actor will replace Daniel Craig in the role, with names such as Regé-Jean Page, Tom Hardy and Idris Elba all in the mix.

Craig’s final outing in the franchise came in this year’s No Time to Die. The movie was the first film to kill James Bond, a decision that shocked many viewers.

Speaking to Deadline at an event in central London to honour Broccoli and her brother Michael G Wilson for their BFI Fellowships, Broccoli said of the casting decisions: “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. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”

Ralph Fiennes, who plays spy chief M, and Naomie Harris, who plays Eve Moneypenny, were also at the event.

Talking about how that the producer “killed Bond” in No Time to Die, Fiennes joked that “Naomie and I are the people to fix it. You find him and we’ll train him.”

Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson have been awarded BFI Fellowships in a ceremony at Claridge’s in London (Suzan Moore/PA) (PA Wire)

Read The Independent’s recent interview with Harris here, in which she discussed playing the Moneypenny of the modern Bond era, her fears around guns on set, why the MeToo movement is irreversible and her new show The Man Who Fell to Earth.