A leaked email from Amy Pascal has revealed whom the Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman wants to take on the role of 007 once Daniel Craig departs the studio’s long-running James Bond franchise: Luther star Idris Elba.
An email sent way back on January 4th from Pascal to Elizabeth Cantillon, formerly the executive vice president of production for Columbia Pictures, which distributes the Bond films, simply reads, “Idris should be the next bond.”
Fans have been petitioning for years to hand Elba, best known for playing dedicated cop John Luther in the British crime series Luther, a shaken-not-stirred martini. We Got This Covered writer Sam Woolf included Elba in a list of actors we’d like to see play the iconic spy. And on multiple times, Elba’s possible involvement has gone even further than sheer fan desire, with the actor apparently meeting with franchise producer Barbara Broccoli in 2012 to discuss him possibly becoming a part of the series.
So, learning that someone so high up at Sony wants to make it happen too is a big win for 007 aficionados. Elba has a busy schedule, to be sure, but we’re pretty confident he’d clear it in a heartbeat to play the first black Bond if Sony asked.
It’s been mostly bad news for Sony in recent weeks, with a North Korea-affiliated hacker group called the Guardians of Peace leaking terabytes of sensitive information, including private emails sent from the accounts of various Sony Pictures Entertainment heads, in response to the studio’s backing of The Interview. And though it’s admittedly bad taste to snoop, we can’t help but be excited at having learned Pascal’s stance on the future of the James Bond franchise.
Fingers crossed this actually goes somewhere, and Elba is able to seal a deal to take on the part. Fans want him, people at Sony want him and the actor himself has acknowledged a desire to do it. So what’s to stop it from actually happening?