First Black James Bond 'A Dead Cert' If Heavyweight Director Signs Up to Direct Endlessly-Delayed 26th 007 Flick
Film big gun Sir Steve McQueen is in talks to take the director's chair for the next James Bond film and that should pave the way for the franchise's first black 007.
The British-born talent enjoyed Oscar-winning success with 12 Years A Slave in 2013 and is currently promoting his impactful new World War Two film Blitz, RadarOnline can reveal.
However, insiders have now claimed that Eon Productions is keen for him to take the reins on an installment of their James Bond franchise.
And that will prompt much speculation over who could play the British Secret Service gentleman spy – inheriting their licence to kill from Daniel Craig, who finished his run as 007 in 2021.
And a movie insider revealed that Sir Steve is likely to want to crown the world's first black Bond.
A well-placed film industry source told RadarOnline.com: "If Steve signs up, there will be massive changes.
"His films are hugely about shaking up the establishment to its core, and if he takes on Bond things will be no different.
"He’s an artist, and what he says goes – he is on Stanley Kubrick’s level that way.
"And if he wants a black Bond, that’s what will happen."
Idris Elba, Will Smith and Jamie Foxx have all been mooted for the role in past years.
Rege-Jean Page has become one of the favourites in recent months.
The relative-newcomer found fame and broke hearts when he appeared in Netflix's hit period drama Bridgerton.
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Acclaimed actor Sope Dirisu's star has been on the rise in recent years, on both stage and screen and he's another possibilty.
Since 2020, he has starred as Elliot Carter in the Sky Atlantic series Gangs of London, and in 2022, he starred as the main character in the period drama film Mr. Malcolm's List.
It will be soon to hit the longest gap between James Bond flicks since they started all the way back with Dr No in 1962.
No Time To Die arrived in 2021, six years after the release of SPECTRE. Previously, it was six years between Licence To Kill and GoldenEye.
In both of those cases, there were mitigating factors: the legal battles behind the scenes in the 1980s and early 90s, and the small matter of Covid-19 at the start of this decade.
One movie site said: "It’s now five years since a James Bond film was before the cameras and we currently don’t know when the next movie will be.
"It’s hard to see James Bond 26 in cinemas until 2026 at the earliest, more likely 2027. That’s another six-year gap – but this one feels a bit more self-inflicted."