James Bond : Idris Elba could be the next Bond movie

Idris Elba As James Bond? In the midst of those emails between Sony executives concluding that black actors don’t play well overseas, it seems Idris Elba is an outlier—a particularly sexy outlier. Embattled Sony Head Amy Pascal declared via email that the Brit should be the next James Bond.

There has been speculation for some time that Elba, 42, was a possible replacement when the current Bond, Daniel Craig, departs the franchise. A Facebook group called “We Want Idris Elba For James Bond” has 30,000 members.

Craig is currently filming “Spectre,” his fourth screen outing as the iconic British spy. He is contracted to appear in one more Bond film after “Spectre,” according to The Guardian.

Elba, made his name in gritty HBO drama “The Wire,” and has gone on to appear in a number of high-profile Hollywood movies, including “Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom,” and “Pacific Rim.”

He has also previously expressed a desire to take up the role. In a Reddit AMA question-and-answer session, he told a poster who asked if he would accept the role: “Yes, if it was offered to me, absolutely.”

Elba would be the seventh actor to play the celebrated spy on the big screen, and the first black man to take the role.

The Bond movie franchise, which began in 1962, is one of the most successful in cinema history, bested only, in terms of box office receipts, by the Marvel Universe and Harry Potter films.

Agencies/Canadajournal