Speaking to The Guardian ahead of the November 10 premiere of 007: Road To A Million, producer Barbara Broccoli has shared an update on the status of Bond 26 and the hunt for the seventh actor to take on the role of James Bond 007.
Two years after Daniel Craig ended his tenure as James Bond in No Time To Die (2021), Bond fans eager for the start of the next 007 era may be disappointed to hear that they will have to wait a little bit longer, with Broccoli stating that there is “a big road ahead” before the character is “reinvented for the next chapter“, and that executives “haven’t even begun” the process of modernising the franchise.
She added that the next film will have to reflect the way the world has changed in the two decades since Craig was confirmed as the sixth 007, pointing out that Bond has often been reinvented.
“I go back to GoldenEye when everyone was saying ‘the cold war is over, the wall is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace and now there’s no villains’ – and boy was that wrong!” she said, adding that modernisation is necessary whenever a new actor plays the part.
With Craig they “wanted to focus on what a 21st-century hero would look like“, with Broccoli adding “Daniel gave us the ability to mine the emotional life of the character … and also the world was ready for it. I think these movies reflect the time they are in, and there’s a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter and we haven’t even begun with that.”
It is unlikely that significant progress on Bond 26 will be made until the new year, with 2023 being marked by Amazon’s slow progress in filling key executive roles at MGM, and the Writers Guild (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) taking strike action against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
In the meantime, fans have the new Bond-themed competition series, 007: Road To A Million, to look forward to.
Both Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were actively involved in the casting process for the global adventure series, which sees nine pairs of everyday people enduring physical and psychological challenges in Bond-related locations to win £1m.
It is the first time the Bond brand has been allowed to be used in unscripted TV and it features the film’s theme tune, epic settings and imagery.
Speaking on the series, Broccoli said it has “same ethos of heroism, courage and fortitude we do in the movies … I think it’s really good entertainment and that’s what people need,” with Wilson adding that the series is “made for a general audience but Bond fans can find special Easter eggs in there“.
When asked if there might be other Bond TV spin-offs, Broccoli said “Our focus is making the feature films. When we get going on a Bond movie it takes our full attention for three or four years so that’s our focus. We make the Bond movies for the big theatrical screen and everything about the Bond movies is for audiences to see around the world on that format, so we’ve not wanted to do television.”
Will we ever see an Australian version of 007: Road To A Million? Broccoli hopes to make versions with other countries, but “We haven’t quite gotten there yet; we want to launch it and see the response … but I would love to see the various versions around the world, from Africa, India and Asia.”
007: Road To A Million will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on 10 November 2023.
