No Time to Die: James Bond producer in no hurry to find the replacement for Daniel Craig

James Bond fans have been lamenting at the fact that the upcoming No Time to Die will see Daniel Craig’s last outing as the enigmatic English spy, and it seems that they are not the only ones. Producer Barbara Broccoli, who has been serving as producer on the Bond film series for over two decades, seems to be finding it difficult to come to terms with Craig's last outing for the franchise. She is in no rush to find a replacement either.

According to reports in Deadline, the producer had said that she will wait until 2022 to seek out who will portray the role of agent 007 next, joking that she was in denial over Daniel Craig’s exit. She had also added that she wanted the star to have some time to celebrate his iconic portrayal before they start looking into the future.

Broccoli also mentioned how Craig was uncertain about accepting the role of Bond, while also crediting the actor with allowing the emotional and complex aspects of the character to be explored the way that they had in the recent films.

Barbara Broccoli had got her career start with the James Bond film series and had gone on to serve as an assistant director and later producer for several movies in the franchise, including all the five films featuring Daniel Craig. The English actor had first donned the role of the MI6 agent in the 2005 film Casino Royale.

Slated to be released in the UK this month, No Time to Die will feature James Bond being called back into the secret service he had left behind when a dangerous villain poses a new threat. In conversation with Reuters, Craig had revealed that he had not intended to return for a fifth film after 2015’s Spectre, but was happy that he did as he felt the upcoming film ties up a lot of ‘loose ends’.