James Bond Producer Gives Update on Franchise Future

James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has shared insight on the future of the franchise.

Daniel Craig took over the role as the beloved MI6 agent from Piers Brosnan beginning with" Casino Royale" in 2006.

For the better part of the last two decades, he played 007 before departing the franchise after five movies, bowing out with last year’s "No Time to Die".

It concluded the actor's run with a finality unusual for the movie, something which fuelled speculation over the likely future of the franchise, with some suspecting the movies would have to return to Bond’s childhood or early spy years for more stories.

"No Time to Die" is directed by Cary Fukunaga from a screenplay he co-wrote alongside Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

"No Time to Die" also introduced Lashana Lynch as the first Black 007. The movie allocated $774.2 million at the worldwide box office as well as earned three Oscar nominations and a win for Best Original Song for Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell.

Speculations have been raised for several years about who will be his successor as the next James Bond.

In a new interview, Broccoli revealed that it will be “at least two years“ before the next 007 movie begins production and that the task of finding an actor to replace Daniel Craig hasn’t begun.

“Nobody’s in the running. We’re working out where to go with him, we’re talking that through," she disclosed.

"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.” Broccoli added.

The producer has previously confirmed that the new Bond will be male, after calls for the character to undergo a Doctor Who-style reinvention. Key runners and riders remain, Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill, Idris Elba, Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page, and Richard Madden.