This 2021, the premiere of ‘No time to die’ is finally expected. The launch of the last installment of 007 with Daniel Craig in the role of the famous secret agent has been postponed so many times that it is likely that when he hits the big screen (in Spain, in principle, on October 8) the British actor does not remember all of the scenes shot.
What he is sure to remember until the end of his career is the stir that has been generated around his successor as James Bond. Since Craig announced in 2015 that he was leaving the secret agent franchise for good, many have passed, including a new movie. After the premiere of ‘Specter’, the interpreter announced that he would not get into the skin of the character created by Ian Fleming. However, and as we all know today, Craig put on his spy suit again to bring what, now, will be his last film as James Bond. The reasons for his resignation are many and varied, although the British actor has explained in more than one interview that her anxiety about preparing for the role was too high and she did not enjoy her work. In fact, this is the reason why between the filming of ‘Specter’ and that of ‘No time to die’, about five years passed, which the producers needed to convince him to return to the project.
What is now clear is that Daniel Craig vacates the James Bond position. This leaves us with two possible scenarios: that the franchise comes to an end or that a new 007 is sought. The first possibility, taking into account that James Bond is an icon of popular culture that has even made the leap out of the seventh art reaching up to sports advertising campaigns, It is not an option. For the second there are, on the contrary, too many options.
Since Craig’s departure was confirmed, the list of possible 007s has not stopped growing. There were even several initiatives for James Bond to be a woman in the next installment of the franchise and although in Cary Fukunaga’s film the actress Lashana Lynch will put herself in the shoes of a 007 agent, This has made it clear that his role in no case will replace the popular character.
Names like those of Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Henry Cavill, Tom Hiddleston, Richard Madden, James Norton o Sam Heughan They are some of the strongest today in the fight for the role. Heughan, known for his role as James Fraser on the Starz series ‘Outlander’, even stated in a recent interview that he would love to see a Scottish James Bond again, alluding to the shared origin with the recently deceased Sean Connery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DQCpFsDAwA
However, there are experts who point out that all these actors would be “too famous” to play Bond. Thus, the correct choice of producers would be to bet on a new face away from Hollywood blockbusters, but with enough background to deal with a project like James Bond. Regé-Jean Page could be that man.
Page has been the latest name to join the ranks, but as the saying goes, this doesn’t mean it’s less important. The British actor has risen to world fame recently for his role as Duke of Hastings in the Netflix period series “The Bridgertons”. Turned into a media phenomenon, Page has thanked the good reviews for his work on the fiction of Shonda Rhimes but it should be noted that this is not the only one in which he has participated. In fact, the British actor has several productions behind him, both on the small and on the big screen, which would support his selection as James Bond.
What’s more, if the producers finally cast Page, they would be fulfilling one of the most repeated requests by the public and critics: show more diversity on screen by choosing a black James Bond. As if this were not enough, Page is, as we have already advanced, British and is now 31 years old, so he is in the ideal range of 30 to 40 years to incarnate 007; Let’s remember that Craig took on the role at the age of 37.
We will have to wait, although probably not long, to know if the protagonist of ‘The Bridgertons’ finally takes the role. What is clear is that finding a replacement for Daniel Craig is more complex than some of the 007 missions.
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