James Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has declared Bond will never be played by a woman.
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Ms Broccoli, daughter of Cubby Broccoli, who adapted Ian Fleming's spy novels to film, insisted the character was written for a man to play.
"Bond is male. He's a male character. He was written as a male and I think he'll probably stay as a male. And that's fine."
She told the Daily Mail turning male characters into women isn't the right approach.
"Let's just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters."
As the head of Eon Productions, Broccoli has morphed Bond from the tall, dark-haired agent played by Sir Roger Moore to a blonde assassin played by Daniel Craig.
She told the Guardian she has also done her best to represent women more fairly in the franchise's recent releases.
"I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they've become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed.
"[People] reference those early movies. It was written in the '50s, so there's certain things in [Bond's] DNA that are probably not gonna change."
Longstanding rumours that Idris Elba will play the first black Bond continue to circulate.
Ms Broccoli told a friend last month that "it's time" for a non-white actor to take on the role, the Daily Mail reports.
Newshub.
