James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli gives an idea of when the next movie might start filming – and fans could be in for a long wait. 2021’s COVID-delayed No Time to Die brought a dramatic end to the Daniel Craig era of Bond. The film went on to be the fourth-biggest movie of the year, grossing $774 million worldwide.
Those box office numbers indeed prove that fans still hunger to experience the adventures of Ian Fleming’s Bond. But where the series goes next after Craig’s departure is anyone’s guess. The Bond series of course has a history of renewing itself, and indeed underwent something of an overhaul when Craig arrived, ushering in an era of grittier action and extended story arcs. Complicating matters somewhat is the recent acquisition of the MGM catalog by Amazon, a move that presumably adds new voices to those deciding the future of Bond.
Of course the biggest voice behind Bond remains long-time producer Broccoli. Speaking recently to Deadline, Broccoli gave an indication of when the next Bond movie might go before cameras, and her estimate was not exactly encouraging for fans longing to see 007 return. Broccoli said “I’d say that filming is at least two years away.” Obviously that means that release of the next Bond is likely at least three years away, given how long it takes to make an elaborate big-budget action film in the present day.
This rough timeframe for when the next Bond film might go before cameras is of course influenced by several factors, including the major issue of casting Craig’s successor. But it’s more than just that according to Broccoli, who told Deadline that the Bond series is undergoing a “reinvention” and that it “takes time” to pull that off. How radical that reinvention might end up being is anyone’s guess, but it’s fair to say that making Bond a woman is not in the cards given Broccoli’s previous remarks. Indeed back in 2020 Broccoli seemed to firmly slam the door on the prospect of a female Bond, saying "He can be of any color, but he is male. I believe we should be creating new characters for women - strong female characters.”
As for Broccoli’s rough timeframe for working all these things out and getting the pieces in place for the Bond series to continue, it’s certainly not unheard of for multiple years to pass between 007 entries. Back in the early days of course the Bond movies came out on a pretty regular schedule, with a new movie arriving just about every two years. The first big gap didn’t happen until the early ‘90s, when the series took a six-year break between Timothy Dalton’s last movie License to Kill and Pierce Brosnan’s first movie GoldenEye. There was then a four-year break between Brosnan’s last, Die Another Day, and Craig’s first, Casino Royale. Output was then generally slower during Craig’s tenure, with four years elapsing between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. Six years then went by between the release of Spectre and that of No Time to Die, but of course COVID had a lot to do with that particularly lengthy delay.
The pattern here obviously is that when the Bond series has to switch lead actors, it takes a little longer to get the new movie going, thanks to the casting process and adjustments in tone that naturally follow. If the gap between No Time to Die and the next Bond ends up being four years altogether, that would actually not be an unprecedented situation. The trick for Broccoli and company of course is to keep the Bond series feeling relevant while also keeping long-time fans as happy as possible. The team behind James Bond mainly accomplished that task with the Craig films, and now they have a few years to figure out their next 007 moves.
Source: Deadline