As usual I was up all night catching up on wrestling, and between matches I stopped to check on any movie news. The first thing I saw was an article by the Daily Star, a UK outlet that isn’t really known for breaking big movie news, and the headline was this, “Idris Elba the next 007? Movie boss says ‘door open for first black James Bond’”.
I ignored it because Idris Elba as James Bond rumors are a weekly occurrence and have no real basis in reality. Plus, I read the article and realized the relevant portion comes from The Equalizer director, Antoine Fuqua, who has absolutely nothing to do with the Bond franchise. So how does Elba’s name enter the conversation? Well, it doesn’t. Fuqua, who is apparently a good friend with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, asked her about the possibilty of a black 007, and he said her responses were “it is time” for that to happen and “it will happen eventually.”
Fuqua did add that “Idris could do it if he was in shape. You need a guy with physically strong presence. Idris has that.”
That says nothing about the actor being a contender for the role, and again, Fuqua has nothing to do with the franchise.
I pretty much took today off from posting (I do that on Fridays), but all I kept seeing were reports and think pieces about Elba as the next James Bond. And of course, the racists came out of the woodwork, too. But I think this is a perfect example of two things. First, a site with a bogus clickbait headline. And two, undisciplined news sites that don’t read past the headline. Elba has been rumored to be up for 007 for nearly a decade. It’s probably not going to happen at this point, and even if it does you can bet producers are going to make a show of it.
