Another “Idris Elba is the next James Bond” rumour has officially completed its lifecycle.
We’ve got the routine down at this point. First several sources report that Elba is being seriously considered.
Next the Internet latches onto the idea because it would, admittedly, be really cool.
Finally, a new source comes out to say it’s all been a big misunderstanding.
This time it is The Hollywood Reporter’s turn to douse the raging fires of Internet fandom. THR reports that a representative of director Antoine Fuqua has said the Elba rumours are “all made up stuff.”
Last week, Fuqua was purported to have had a conversation with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, where she told him that Elba was a frontrunner for the next 007. It all sounded a bit weird at the time (why were they having the conversation? Why was he telling everyone about it?), but the rumour blew up anyway because everyone wants it to be true.
“He never had a conversation with Barbara about the franchise or about any casting,” a rep of Fuqua told THR. “It’s all made up stuff. Not sure how it got started.”
Sources for Elba also told the publication that no one from Bond-land had reached out.
Yet for as long as Idris Elba, James Bond, and the Internet exist, we’re all going to keep on doing this dance. Elba as Bond makes too much sense not to happen. Which means it’s probably never going to happen.
While we wait for Elba to never happen, Daniel Craig is set for one last go around as Bond in the Danny Boyle directed 25th Bond film on November 8, 2019.