The James Bond franchise might be moving in a different direction behind the scenes as we inch closer and closer to the next instalment of the spy film series. Speaking on The Deadline: Crew Call podcast, Barbara Broccoli, a long-time producer of the action movies, said: “I’d love to have a female director. We’ll have to see what happens. We’ll start the process sometime this year, I guess, andwe’lll see where it takes us””
However, whether or not a woman will actually sit in that coveted Bond 26 chair remains to be seen. Following Danny Boyle’s swift exit as initial director, there were rumours of a woman directing the thriller in 2018. At the time, Variety reported that S.J. Clarkson, who has directed television hits like Jessica Jones, Dexter and Succession, was a frontrunner for the role until it eventually went to Cary Joji Fukunaga.
That being said, No Time To Die did make history in terms of female representation in the franchise, as for the first time, the 007 moniker that Bond had held onto since 1962 was given to the new spy Nomi.
Played by Lashanna Lynch, the move marked the first time a woman of colour used the iconic codename. Although Nomi eventually gave the codename back to Craig’s Bond after he was forced out of retirement, he isn’t exactly going to need it moving forward, so maybe she’ll be able to take the mantle for good this time.
Whether or not Craig’s successor in the action franchise should be a woman has also been a subject of debate given that Bond is as pale, male and stale in front of the screen as he is behind it. The rumour mill around Lynch taking a more permanent, starring role in the franchise shows no sign of slowing down, while the likes of Gillian Anderson, Priyanka Chopra and Emilia Clark have all also thrown their hats in the ring.
The 25th Bond movie, No Time To Die, was released on home media in December 2021. Find out more about how to watch it here.