'Get out of the way, guys': Pierce Brosnan says the next 'Bond' star should be a woman
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Idris Elba would become 007 if he was asked to take over after Daniel Craig.
USA TODAY
Pierce Brosnan has reversed his opinion on the prospect of a female 007: The former “Bond” star is now all for it.Â
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter over the weekend, the former James Bond answered with a resounding “Yes!” when asked about the possibility of a woman taking over the iconic role. Lashana Lynch, set to make her franchise debut in the upcoming Daniel Craig-led 25th installment “No Time to Die,” is rumored to take on the 007 role in the future.Â
“I think we’ve watched the guys do it for the last 40 years. Get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there. I think it would be exhilarating, it would be exciting,†he said at the Deauville Film Festival in France.
Brosnan was criticized in 2015 after saying in an interview that it was possible but not likely for Idris Elba to take on the role as the first black James Bond but that an actress stepping in couldn’t happen.Â
“Anything is possible for sure, but I think he’ll be male and he’ll be white,” he told Britain’s Press Association at the time. “There’s wonderful black actors out there who could be James Bond, and there’s no reason why you cannot have a black James Bond. But a female James Bond, no, I think it has to be male. James Bond is a guy; he’s all male. His name is James, his name is James Bond.”
Now in 2019, Brosnan’s newfound enthusiasm still came with a disclaimer: “I don’t think that’s going to happen with the Broccolis,” he said, referring to the franchise’s producers, which include Barbara Broccoli. “I don’t think that is going to happen under their watch.”
When asked how the #MeToo movement should change the long-running franchise, Brosnan said the “movement has been relevant and significant and well-needed in our society, so they’ll have to address that.”Â
The actor, 66, was the fifth to hold Bond title, appearing as 007 in four films from 1995 to 2002.
“James Bond has a certain significance and a deep pride,” he added. “I will be asked about him until my dying days – it just goes with the territory. He’s a beloved character. I was honored to play the role and I rejuvenated a franchise that had been dormant.â€Â
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![24/7 Tempo has ranked all 26 James Bond feature films from worst to best using online audience and critic ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Movie Database. Scroll through to learn more.nbsp;]()
1 of 27![26. quot;Casino Royalequot; (1967) bull; Starring: David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress bull; Favorable reviews: 35% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: N/A bull; Originally conceived by producer Charles K. Feldman as an entry to Eon Productions James Bond series, which had already released four Bond films, quot;Casino Royalequot; was instead released as a satirical spy comedy by the now defunct Famous Artists Productions after Eon rejected the project. Despite starring Peter Sellers, Woody Allen and Orson Welles, the movie is generally considered the worst Bond picture andnbsp;ndash; for manynbsp;ndash; is not considered a Bond picture at all.]()
2 of 27![25. quot;A View to a Killquot; (1985) bull; Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Walken, Tanya Roberts bull; Favorable reviews: 40% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $50.3 million bull; quot;A View to a Killquot; is the final Bond film to star Roger Moore, who was 57 years old during the shooting. The films cast features Christopher Walken as psychopath Max Zorin and Grace Jones as May Day, who conspire to take over the microchip industry.]()
3 of 27![24. quot;Never Say Never Againquot; (1983) bull; Starring: Sean Connery, Kim Basinger, Klaus Maria Brandauer bull; Favorable reviews: 37% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $55.5 million bull; quot;Never Say Never Againquot; is the second film adaptation of author Ian Flemings novel quot;Thunderball.quot; It is one of two James Bond films not produced by Eon Productions, which released the more popular quot;Octopussyquot; the same year.]()
4 of 27![23. quot;Octopussyquot; (1983) bull; Starring: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan bull; Favorable reviews: 47% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $67.9 million bull; quot;Octopussyquot; was released approximately four months before the independently produced quot;Never Say Never Again,quot; starring Sean Connery. The film grossed over $12 million more in the U.S. than the latter release.]()
5 of 27![22. quot;Die Another Dayquot; (2002) bull; Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike bull; Favorable reviews: 41% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $160.9 million bull; Pierce Brosnan played the role of James Bond in four films, completing his tenure with 2002s quot;Die Another Day.quot; The film, which is the 20th Eon-produced Bond movie, was released 40 years after the first Bond film, quot;Dr. No.quot;]()
6 of 27![21. quot;Moonrakerquot; (1979) bull; Starring: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale bull; Favorable reviews: 43% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $70.3 million bull; Eon Productions originally planned to release quot;For Your Eyes Onlyquot; after quot;The Spy Who Loved Me.quot; However, due to the success of quot;Star Wars,quot; which came out in 1977, the company reconsidered and instead made the space-themed quot;Moonraker.quot; The movie was the highest-grossing Bond film until the release of quot;GoldenEyequot; in 1995.]()
7 of 27![20. quot;The World Is Not Enoughquot; (1999) bull; Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle bull; Favorable reviews: 49% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $126.9 million bull; quot;The World is Not Enoughquot; is the final movie to feature actor Desmond Llewelyn in the role of Q, putting an end to a 17 film streak. Its also the first film in the series to feature a female character as one of the lead antagonistsnbsp;ndash; Sophie Marceau as Elektra King.]()
8 of 27![19. quot;The Man with the Golden Gunquot; (1974) bull; Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland bull; Favorable reviews: 56% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $21.0 million bull; Another Roger Moore turn as 007. This time, Bond faces the imperious Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), who plans to sell solar cell technology to the highest bidder. The movie is memorable for Scaramangas alluring hideoutnbsp;ndash; an island redoubt off the coast of Thailand ndash; and colorful supporting characters such as Scaramangas diminutive henchman Nick Nack (Herveacute;nbsp;Villechaize), and tobacco-chomping Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James).]()
9 of 27![18. quot;Tomorrow Never Diesquot; (1997) bull; Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh bull; Favorable reviews: 53% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $125.3 million bull; The 18th Bond movie made by Eon Productions features Jonathan Pryce as media titan Elliot Carver, who wants to break into the Chinese media market. Carver tries to provoke a war between China and the West in order to obtain broadcasting rights in the worlds most populous country. Worth noting: The minister of defense in quot;Tomorrow Never Diesquot; is played by quot;Downton Abbeyquot; creator Julian Fellowes.]()
10 of 27![17. quot;Quantum of Solacequot; (2008) bull; Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric bull; Favorable reviews: 58% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $168.4 million bull; The second Bond film starring Daniel Craig is both violent and fast-paced, with many critics such as Roger Ebert criticizing it as being too much of an action film. Yet the film has many supporters who believe it to be an exciting, modern take on Bond. Its gritty, engaging, and, at 106 minutesnbsp;ndash; the shortest film in the seriesnbsp;ndash; exceedingly to the point.nbsp;]()
11 of 27![16. quot;Live and Let Diequot; (1973) bull; Starring: Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour bull; Favorable reviews: 65% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $35.4 million bull; quot;Live and Let Die,quot; the first of Roger Moores seven appearances as the British agent, takes Bond to the Bayou after the mysterious deaths of several British agents. There he encounters Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), a major drug dealer and voodoo master Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder). The comic relief is provided by good ole boy Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James). The movie is also known for its theme song, performed by Paul McCartney and Wings.]()
12 of 27![15. quot;Licence to Killquot; (1989) bull; Starring: Timothy Dalton, Robert Davi, Carey Lowell bull; Favorable reviews: 60% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $34.7 million bull; quot;License to Killquot; is the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as James Bond. Being generally more violent than other films in the series up to that point, it is the first Bond film to receive a PG-13 rating in the U.S. There was a gap of six years until the next Bond film, quot;GoldenEye,quot; was releasednbsp;ndash; the longest gap between Bond movies.]()
13 of 27![14. quot;Diamonds Are Foreverquot; (1971) bull; Starring: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray bull; Favorable reviews: 58% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $43.8 million bull; quot;Diamonds Are Foreverquot; is the final Eon Productions James Bond film to star Sean Connery, although the actor would return to the role once more in the independently produced quot;Never Say Never Again.quot; The film is highly regarded for its humor, including a number of comical sight gags.]()
14 of 27![13. quot;The Living Daylightsquot; (1987) bull; Starring: Timothy Dalton, Maryam dAbo, Jeroen Krabbeacute; bull; Favorable reviews: 66% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $51.2 million bull; quot;The Living Daylightsquot; is the first of two Bond films to star Timothy Dalton, following Roger Moores departure from the series. While some at the time criticized Daltons portrayal as moody and humorless, others were highly impressed, including Washington Post film critic Rita Kempley who, in 1987, described Dalton as the quot;best Bond ever.quot;]()
15 of 27![12. quot;Spectrequot; (2015) bull; Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Leacute;a Seydoux bull; Favorable reviews: 61% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $200.1 million bull; quot;Spectrequot; is the most recent Bond release and the fourth to star Daniel Craig as Agent 007. Its the first film to feature criminal organization Spectre and its leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld since quot;Diamonds Are Foreverquot; in 1971. The organizations first appearance was in 1962s quot;Dr. No.quot;]()
16 of 27![11. quot;For Your Eyes Onlyquot; (1981) bull; Starring: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Chaim Topol bull; Favorable reviews: 64% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $62.3 million bull; Following 1979s space-themed quot;Moonraker,quot; Roger Moore returned two years later as Bond in quot;For Your Eyes Only,quot; a more grounded entry in the series that was shot in England, Italy, Greece and The Bahamas. The film follows Agent 007 as he attempts to retrieve a stolen Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator that can be used to control British military submarines.nbsp;]()
17 of 27![10. quot;You Only Live Twicequot; (1967) bull; Starring: Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama bull; Favorable reviews: 68% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $43.1 million bull; quot;You Only Live Twicequot; is the last of the first five Bond movies starring Sean Connery, who sought to get out of Bond-age and avoid typecasting. Like the previous four Bond films, quot;You Only Live Twicequot; was a rousing success. In the movie, an American spacecraft vanishes in orbit, and the Soviets are blamed. Bond travels to a Japanese island to confront Blofeld (Donald Pleasence), the head of the crime organization Spectre that is behind the disappearance of the spacecraft.]()
18 of 27![9. quot;On Her Majestys Secret Servicequot; (1969) bull; Starring: George Lazenby, Diana Rigg, Telly Savalas bull; Favorable reviews: 64% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $22.8 million bull; This is the only film in which George Lazenby played 007, and the first Bond movie that did not star Sean Connery. When the movie was released, critics were not kind to Lazenby, a model who had never acted in a movie before. More recent assessments of the movie have shown a greater appreciation of Lazenby as a more vulnerable Bond. In quot;On Her Majestys Secret Service,quot; Bond battles Spectre leader Blofeld (Telly Savalas), who plans to use women from various countries to contaminate the worlds food supply. The film is remembered for Blofelds henchwoman Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) and for Bond love interest Teresa quot;Tracyquot; Draco (Diana Rigg), who marries Bond and is killed by Bunt.nbsp;]()
19 of 27![8. quot;Thunderballquot; (1965) bull; Starring: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi bull; Favorable reviews: 73% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $63.6 million bull; By the time quot;Thunderballquot; was released in 1965, Connery had played the unflappable James Bond three times and was becoming concerned about being typecast. Still, the movie-going public could not get enough of 007, and quot;Thunderballquot; was a huge hit. In quot;Thunderball,quot; Bond goes to the Bahamas to try and keep Spectre villain Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) from holding the world hostage with stolen nuclear warheads. The movie is remembered for its underwater battle between scuba divers firing spears at each other.]()
20 of 27![7. quot;The Spy Who Loved Mequot; (1977) bull; Starring: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curd Juuml;rgens bull; Favorable reviews: 76% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $46.8 million bull; There are highlights aplenty in quot;The Spy Who Loved Me,quot; from the breathtaking skiing sequence at the beginning of the film to the conversion of the Lotus sports car into a missile-firing submarine. There is also one of the great Bond assassins in Jaws (Richard Kiel), a large man with metal teeth who chomps a shark to death. Jaws is employed by madman Karl Stromberg (Curd Juuml;rgens), who tries to provoke a nuclear holocaust and then create a civilization under the sea. Bond reaches a detente with Russian spy Anya Amasova to try and stop Stromberg.nbsp;]()
21 of 27![6. quot;GoldenEyequot; (1995) bull; Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco bull; Favorable reviews: 83% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $106.6 million bull; quot;GoldenEyequot; is the first Bond film to star Pierce Brosnan, who replaced Timothy Dalton in the role of James Bond. It is also the first film to feature Judi Dench in the role of M, a character never before portrayed as a woman. James Bond personally kills 39 people in the film, the second highest body count behind only quot;Octopussy.quot;]()
22 of 27![5. quot;Dr. Noquot; (1962) bull; Starring: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Bernard Lee bull; Favorable reviews: 82% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $16.1 million bull; quot;Dr. Noquot; is the movie that launched the franchise. Producers Harold Saltzman and Albert Broccoli considered Cary Grant and James Mason, among other actors, to play the British agent, while Bond author Ian Fleming preferred David Niven. But once Connery won the role, he put his stamp on the character. The plot of quot;Dr. Noquot; revolves around a deranged scientific genius, Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), who wants to disrupt the U.S. space program.]()
23 of 27![4. quot;From Russia with Lovequot; (1963) bull; Starring: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya bull; Favorable reviews: 83% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $24.8 million bull; quot;From Russia with Lovequot; is one of the few Bond movies whose plot addresses Cold War tensions. Bond travels to Istanbul to try get hold of a Soviet decoding machine before the crime organization Spectre gets it. The film is also remembered for Bonds fight with humorless former KGB agent Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), who tries to dispatch Bond with poison in the toe of her shoe.]()
24 of 27![3. quot;Casino Royalequot; (2006) bull; Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench bull; Favorable reviews: 89% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $167.5 million bull; 2006s quot;Casino Royalequot; is the first film to star Daniel Craig as James Bond. Fans and critics alike immediately took to the blonde-haired Craig in the role. The film is considered a reboot of the series, and classic characters such as Q and Miss Moneypenny were absent from the script. Yet the focus on other characters, such as Bond himself, is strong compared to what was seen by many as an increasingly excessive focus on gadgetry in prior Bond films.nbsp;]()
25 of 27![2. quot;Skyfallquot; (2012) bull; Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris bull; Favorable reviews: 86% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $304.4 million bull; quot;Skyfallquot; grossed over $304 million at the domestic box officenbsp;ndash; over $100 million more than quot;Spectre,quot; which is the second highest grossing film in the series. The film also scored five Oscar nominationsnbsp;ndash; more than any other Bond flicknbsp;ndash; and won two. It was the first Bond movie to be filmed in Chinanbsp;ndash; an element that may have helped it become the first movie in the franchise to gross over $1 billion worldwide.]()
26 of 27![1. quot;Goldfingerquot; (1964) bull; Starring: Sean Connery, Gert Frouml;be, Honor Blackman bull; Favorable reviews: 89% of audiences bull; Domestic box office gross: $51.1 million bull; According to audiences and critics alike, quot;Goldfingerquot; is the best Bond movie. First, the characters and actors: Gert Frobe plays the formidable Goldfinger; Shirley Eaton is the doomed, gold-painted Bond girl Jill Masterson; and Harold Sakata portrays lethal villain Oddjob who wields a deadly bowler hat. The car: Bond drives the ultra-cool, tricked-out Aston Martin, equipped with bullet-proof shield and machine guns. The plot: Goldfinger plans to contaminate the gold at Fort Knox to boost the value of his own gold supply. The quote: It is in quot;Goldfingerquot; that Bond first utters his most famous line: quot;A martini. Shaken, not stirred.quot;]()
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