"We don’t have to turn male characters into women." (Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing) Looks like "Jane Bond" is never gonna happen. Despite a long list of actresses who could pull off the role if James Bond was ever rebooted as a female character, 007 will remain a man in the long-running Bond movie series. Barbara Broccoli, an executive producer of Bond movies since Goldeneye, made it official in a new interview with The Guardian, in case you were wondering. “Bond is male,” she said. “He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male." Broccoli added that because the character was created nearly 70 years ago, there's no reason to think he'll become a "feminist property." ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website "It was written in the 50s, so there’s certain things in [Bond’s] DNA that are probably not gonna change.” ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website That doesn't mean that Agent 007 can't have stronger female allies. “We don’t have to turn male characters into women, Broccoli said. "Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.” In Broccoli's eyes, Daniel Craig's Bond interacts with females much differently than past incarnations of the franchise's famously womanizing hero. "I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times," she said. "I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed." We'll see if that trend continues when Craig returns in Bond 25.<doc-sep>He's Bond. James Bond. And he'll stay that way. Bond movie executive producer Barbara Broccoli told The Guardian that 007 is likely to stay male, echoing the same argument recently used by the current 007's wife: "Bond is male," Broccoli told The Guardian. "He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male. And that’s fine. We don’t have to turn male characters into women. Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters." That's almost exactly what actress Rachel Weisz -- who is married to current Bond actor Daniel Craig -- told The Telegraph earlier this year: "[Author Ian Fleming] devoted an awful lot of time to writing this particular character, who is particularly male and relates in a particular way to women. Why not create your own story rather than jumping on to the shoulders and being compared to all those other male predecessors? Women are really fascinating and interesting and should get their own stories." Yes. It's not quite the same as "Doctor Who" casting a woman, since the Doctor is a regenerating Time Lord. Time Lords are extraterrestrial species. James Bond is a human dude. Casting a woman as a version of James Bond (or Jason Bourne, or John Wick, etc.) would just set up that actress for the usual attacks. Creating new potentially iconic roles for women would be preferred all around. Broccoli did tell The Guardian that, while Bond is still Bond, the films have evolved a bit when it comes to portraying women: "But look at the way the world has changed. And I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times. I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed." "Bond 25," said to be Daniel Craig's final Bond movie, is being directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. But Broccoli's last three projects were all directed by women -- including the new film "Nancy" -- and she told The Guardian she'd "absolutely" be open to a woman directing a future Bond movie. "Bond 25" has yet to start filming, or reveal it's full title, but it's scheduled to open February 14, 2020. Want more stuff like this? Like us on Facebook.<doc-sep>The future has looked shaky for cinema’s biggest hero. The director of his latest adventure quit 14 weeks before shooting. The release date was pushed back. Not so long ago, the actor who plays him said he would rather slash his wrists than reprise the role. But there is one thing about which James Bond can rest easy: his manhood. Speaking to the Guardian, 007’s executive producer Barbara Broccoli ruled out any Doctor Who-style gender reinvention for Ian Fleming’s super-spy. “Bond is male,” she said. “He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male. “And that’s fine. We don’t have to turn male characters into women. Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.” Broccoli, 58, is the daughter of Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, heads Eon productions and signs off on every key Bond hire and fire. It was she who tweeted the news Danny Boyle had left the 25th film due to “creative differences”. She who announced Cary Fukunaga was to replace him. And she who lured Daniel Craig back into the tuxedo. Such leverage makes her perhaps the most powerful female producer the film industry has ever seen. It also makes her fiercely protective of the “family business”. Yes, she concedes, Bond cannot be considered a feminist property, but mostly because people tend to “reference those early movies. It was written in the 50s, so there’s certain things in [Bond’s] DNA that are probably not gonna change.” “But look at the way the world has changed. And I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times. I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed” Broccoli’s close involvement with the series, starting aged 17, has been credited with keeping the set strikingly safe as a workplace for women. Rosamund Pike has spoken of her good fortune in Die Another Day (2002) being her first brush with Hollywood. “I look back over my experience and think: ‘My goodness, Barbara Broccoli was way ahead of all this #MeToo movement,” she said. “There wasn’t an ounce of feeling uncomfortable while I was on that set.” Says Broccoli: “I was allowed to – encouraged to – grow within the company and felt very supported by my father and my brother, Michael. So I always said what I thought if I didn’t like something and sometimes they listened and sometimes they didn’t. It gave me confidence at work to deal with whatever the scenario was. “I’m acutely aware of what actors have to go through. They have to expose the most vulnerable parts of themselves. I think you have to create an environment where people feel free to be able to do that and in the wider sense an environment where people feel free to experiment and not be ridiculed, not feel frightened to explore things and say things.” When Bond 25 does start shooting at the start of next year, it will be Broccoli’s first time working with a male director in years; her last three projects have all consciously championed female stories, and been directed by women. The most recent is Nancy, a drama about a vulnerable fantasist co-produced with its star, Andrea Riseborough, and which plays at the London film festival next week. The film, directed by Christina Choe, had a crew that was 80% female and 50% people of colour. It was, says Broccoli, a “very different, nurturing experience … the female resilience and solidarity was great”. It was also one of remarkable industry. “We would wrap early every day,” says Riseborough. “The multitasking was amazing.” The actor was especially struck by the contrast once she returned to work on conventional sets, which average around 90% men. “It’s so much better in Europe than in the US,” she says. From Nancy, “I went into something with Harvey [Weinstein] that was one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever had in my life on set.” The project, a mini-series about Waco, which has since had Weinstein’s producer credit removed, featured Riseborough as a cult follower. “I was playing someone older than myself so I’d asked them to make me look worse. I wanted to look tired and drawn and at the end of my tether. So I was invisible when I walked on to that set. It was a big shock. “And it was all men. I said to the first assistant director: ‘Do you have any women on set?’ And he said: ‘You don’t like to hear this, but it’s a tough industry.’ And we did not [finish on time] a day once.” Riseborough has worked frequently with Weinstein – the mogul currently charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault, all of which he denies – including on her breakthrough role as Wallis Simpson in the Madonna-directed W.E. She is still coming to terms with his downfall, she says. “You can’t quite believe how much you’ve put up with. And how much you’ve not followed your instincts on a very basic level. “And it was collective. The people I admired also weren’t speaking up. It was a very confusing, horrible situation. That’s really all I can say about it: one of the hardest things I’ve been through.” To clarify: in terms of personal experience with Weinstein or the wider fallout? “The last year’s reckoning. Because when you are being undermined or disrespected, you’re not always aware of it. In a way I thought I was being lauded. It’s confusing when you’re always getting awards. You’re being revered in some way. In one way you feel very powerful and in another way you feel like absolute shit. In a way it’s like imposter syndrome.” Weinstein’s actions were, she suggests, enabled by an industry imbalance. “As a woman, I’ve often had a sort of primal fear on set. You’re surrounded by 19 men and you get this feeling inside: I might be overpowered. It’s an old, animalistic, very natural thing.<doc-sep>With Danny Boyle dropping out and Cary Joji Fukunaga boarding the forthcoming James Bond film, the iconic spy franchise has been going through some changes. Another much-talked-about topic is whether or not there will ever be a female James Bond. Although it would be progressive and refreshing to see a woman as Bond, Executive Producer Barbara Broccoli says we shouldn’t expect a female 007 any time soon. “Bond is male,” Broccoli said in an interview with The Guardian. “He’s a male character. He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male.” She points out that there isn’t a need to turn male characters into women. She adds, “Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.” Her reasoning makes sense as she says that Bond can’t be considered a feminist based on the early movies. “It was written in the 50s, so there’s certain things in [Bond’s] DNA that are probably not gonna change.” Not having a female Bond doesn’t diminish their role in the new Bond films, which have changed with the times. “I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed,” Broccoli said. The 007 producer is right. Even though there are no plans to have a female Bond, the franchise has seen progressive changes with the choice of Fukunaga as the director of the new Bond pic (news that Deadline exclusively reported) which will have Craig reprising the dapper spy role. The Maniac creator is the first American — more than that, Asian American — to direct a film in the franchise.<doc-sep>
James Bond will continue to be played by a man, according to the franchise's producer Barbara Broccoli. “He’s a male character," she told The Guardian. "He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male." The overseer of the James Bond franchise has spoken: "Bond is male." That was how producer Barbara Broccoli put it when asked if there would ever be a female James Bond. “He’s a male character," she went on to tell The Guardian in a recent interview. "He was written as a male and I think he’ll probably stay as a male. And that’s fine. We don’t have to turn male characters into women. Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters.” With the recent gender-bending trend bringing new life to existing IPs ("Ocean's Eight," "Dr. Who"), the internet has been pushing a female Bond for years. Even actresses like Priyanka Chopra and Gillian Anderson have voiced their interest in obtaining the coveted license to kill. Barbara Broccoli. Getty But Broccoli, one of the most powerful producers working in the industry today, states that despite keeping Bond a man, that doesn't mean the character has to continue to have the same old-school qualities the character had in the early days of the franchise decades ago. "I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times," she said. "I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed.” Craig will return to the role for the final time in the 25th Bond movie, which will begin production in March. But looking forward, can Broccoli see a female directing one of these movies? “Yes, absolutely,” Broccoli told The Guardian. “As a female producer, of course I’d like to do that.”