King Richard director Reinaldo Marcus Green wouldn’t mind if he got to direct a James Bond action movie, but he’d need a specific leading man. For him, it’d be Idris Elba, someone oft-tipped to take up the 007 mantle, or not at all.
During a roundtable hosted by The Hollywood Reporter for new HBO TV series We Own This City, Green’s career was compared to Cary Joji Fukunaga. They’ve both broken out via the festival circuit, had studio films, and worked on prestige television. Fukunaga’s next step was to tackle Her Majesty’s finest agent. Green would answer the phone call, but it all depends on who he’s directing.
“If it has somebody that looks like me in front of it, I’m definitely open to it,” he says. “I want to go into that direction and I want to be able to add value to a new Bond. I grew up watching popcorn movies, so if I could add a little something to it, that would be cool. Let’s see if Idris wants to do it.”
Rumours have circled for much of Daniel Craig’s run as Bond that Elba would be the man to replace him. Elba himself has emphatically denied the possibility at any given chance, but he would say that, wouldn’t he?
Certainly, given how good King Richard is, we’d like to see Green take a go at the world of James Bond. He’s absolutely right about the character though – he, and us the audience, would be best served by some paradigm shift in the thriller movie franchise. It doesn’t need to be Elba, just not someone who’s another Daniel Craig or Pierce Brosnan.
No Time To Die, Craig’s swansong to the character, is now available on home media.