James Bond executive producer rules out ever casting a female 007

"Bond is male," Barbara Broccoli told the Guardian. "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. We don’t have to turn male characters into women. Let’s just create more female characters and make the story fit those female characters," Broccoli explained.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgFHRg32QOs&list=PLbs-Pk9dtKb8YP3Qd5UDiUQqkuzd776iF

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But while she isn't keen on putting a woman in front of the camera in the lead role, she's definitely on board with the idea of having a female screenwriter or director take charge of Bond's adventures. "As a female producer, of course I’d like to do that,” she said.

And though she admitted that the older Bond films don't exactly treat women in the most acceptable of ways, Broccoli said she has tried to make sure that the modern offerings take a more nuanced approach.

"I think Bond has come through and transformed with the times. I’ve tried to do my part, and I think particularly with the Daniel [Craig] films, they’ve become much more current in terms of the way women are viewed,” she said.

The 25th instalment of the James Bond franchise will hit theatres in 2020, with Beasts of No Nation and Maniac's Cary Joji Fukunaga set to direct.

Fukunaga – who has also worked on True Detective – is replacing Oscar winner Danny Boyle, who had been set to helm the film but left due to 'creative differences', Wilson, Broccoli and returning 007 star Craig announced last month.

Production had originally been scheduled to begin this December and released in October 2019, but the production hiccups have led to the inevitable delay.