James Bond boss 'drops HUGE hint on Daniel Craig replacement'? Good news for THIS actor?

She is claimed in a new report to have spoken to director Antoine Fuqua about casting possibilities once Craig steps down – which he is strongly believed to do after the next movie in the franchise, which starts production later this year.

Fuqua told the Daily Star that Broccoli now thinks “it is time” for casting directors to diversify the list of 007s – the first of whom was Sean Connery back in 1962.

Idris Elba is currently the most-backed non-white actor with bookies – his odds of becoming James Bond after Craig are currently 8/1 with Betfair.

Daniel Kaluuya (20/1 with Ladbrokes) and John Boyega (50/1) have also been touted as potential long-shot contenders.

Antoine said: “Idris could do it if he was in shape.

“You need a guy with physically strong presence. Idris has that.”

One person who’s probably out the running is Jason Statham, who threw his own hat in the ring back in 2015 but now seems to accept that his chances are slim-to-none.

“No one is coming to me for that job,” he quipped at the premiere of The Meg.

James Norton and Tom Hardy remain joint favourites, with Sam Heughan enjoying a recent surge of support thanks to his role in The Spy Who Dumped Me.

“I’ve always wanted to play James Bond. It’s a part of every British actor’s legacy,” the Outlander regular told the Sunday Post.

“I loved Timothy Dalton because he was slightly edgy and dark.

“Sean Connery was brilliant. I loved Roger Moore because I liked his eyebrow raising and the slight campness of it.

“But if I had to choose one, probably Timothy Dalton. His The Living Daylights was more edgy.”

Very little is known about the next James Bond movie, except that Danny Boyle is the director hired to make it, and filming will start at the end of this year.

Craig confirmed last summer that he would film one final caper, after rumours mounted that he was on the verge of quitting.

James Bond 25 is out in late 2019.