#METOO BRINGS BOND TO HEEL
IT’S A DOUBLE O NOTHING CHANCE OF WOMEN IN HIS ROLE, BUT MOVIE RESPECTS FEMALES, SAYS CO-WRITER
The iconic character of James Bond might be refreshed by being played by a person of colour, but he will never be played by a woman, say producers.
As Daniel Craig prepares to release his fifth and final James Bond film No Time To
Die, speculation is rife on who will replace him as the next MI6 agent with a penchant for martinis and beautiful women, and saving the world from bad guys.
Talking to Variety, Barbara Broccoli, who inherited the production rights from her father Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, said there could be changes afoot, but we won’t see Bond change gender.
“He can be of any colour, but he is male,” she said.
“I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters.
“I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”
We were teased with the announcement a few months ago that Lashana Lynch (pictured) was set to play the new 007, which was lauded by many – including former Bond Pierce Brosnan – as a great step in addressing the sexism of the Bond movies.
Of course, man-babies everywhere cried into their keyboards.
But it turns out the plot of the new film sees James Bond retire from MI6, handing in his code name 007, which is then assigned to Lynch’s character Nomi.
No surprise that Bond is then called out of retirement to save the world from some bad guy, blah blah, you get the drill.
Brosnan thought a female Bond was a great idea, saying, “I think we’ve watched the guys do it for the last 40 years.”
“Get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there.
“I think it would be exhilarating, it would be exciting.”
Broccoli says that Bond is evolving though, and his cavalier attitude towards women, not to mention terrible HR practices of bedding everyone he works with, is changing with the times.
“The #MeToo movement has had a huge impact – rightfully, thankfully – on society, and these films should reflect that, as everything we do should,” she said.
To help counter Bond’s perceived woman problem, Phoebe Waller-Bridge was brought in as a co-writer on this most recent film, and she’s been outspoken about Bond still being relevant today.
“There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not [the Bond franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women,” she told Deadline.
“I think that’s bollocks. I think he’s absolutely relevant now. It has just got to grow.
“It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn’t have to. He needs to be true to this character.”