Sony hack: Idris Elba to play James Bond?
Idris Elba could be the new James Bond according to information in a Sony email leaked by hackers.
Amy Pascal, the co-chairperson of Sony pictures, which makes Bond films, was clear “Idris should be the new Bond,” she wrote.
This isn’t the first time the British actor, famous for his compelling performance as Mandela as well as a major role acclaimed HBO show The Wire, has been linked with the role.
Some discussion has centred around Elba being the first “black Bond”, but the actor dislikes the terminology.
We don’t say ‘white Bond’, we just say ‘Bond’. So it suddenly becomes a black man and he’s a ‘black Bond’. So I hate that phrase.
If Elba does become the next Bond, he will have to wait a while: Daniel Craig is contracted to do another two films, including the new film Spectre.
Craig has overseen something of a revival in the franchise, which many thought had lost its way with increasingly unbelievable story lines and poor scripts towards then end of Pierce Brosnan’s tenure.
If his acting performances are anything to go by, Elba would signal a continuation of the grittier Bond played by Craig, rather than the high body-counts and over-reliance on invisible cars that preceded him.