James Bond 'will remain male': Producer
"I am not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that."
Producer of the James Bond films Barbara Broccoli has ruled out making the character female.
"James Bond can be of any colour, but he is male," the film producer told the entertainment magazine, Variety, reports BBC.
Broccoli oversees the franchise with her half-brother Michael G Wilson.
"For better or worse, we are the custodians of this character. We take that responsibility seriously," she said.
"I believe we should be creating new characters for women – strong female characters. I am not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that," Broccoli added.
"No Time to Die," the 25th instalment of the James Bond movie franchise, is scheduled to be released in April this year.
The movie will mark Daniel Craig's final outing as the globe-trotting spy. His replacement has not yet been announced.
The forthcoming Bond film will see actress Lashana Lynch play a female "00" agent after Craig's Bond has left active service. Lynch was seen in character for the first time in the trailer; which reignited the conversation about whether James Bond himself could be re-cast as a woman for the next film.
The producer pair reflected on how the Craig era has altered the direction of the franchise.
Final Bond film of Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig's predecessor, 2002's "Die Another Day", was a financial success but was criticised for pushing the boundaries of realism. The film's plot involved a giant space laser and an invisible car.
"We got too fantastical," says Wilson, referring to the film. "We had to come back to Earth."
Craig's era has, in contrast, more closely resembled the original character Ian Fleming wrote.
Martin Campbell, the director of "GoldenEye" and "Casino Royale," admitted he was not convinced Craig was the correct choice to begin with, but came around with Broccoli's persuasion.
"To be honest, it took me a little while to see it. Daniel's acting was terrific, but he wasn't a pretty-boy. Barbara was adamantly in favour of him," he said.
Craig had originally indicated he would not return to the series, but agreed to film one more after speaking with Broccoli.
"Barbara doesn't take no for an answer, it is not in her wheelhouse," Craig said.
"I had a nice long break, which I really needed. And then she was just persistent and came to me with some ideas, which we started formulating, and I got excited again."
