James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli says NO to female 007 ‘He’s MALE and will stay male’

Ghostbusters, Ocean’s 11 and now Doctor Who.

Gender-swapping popular male characters and franchises has become a recent trend on film and TV and some fans want a female James Bond.

In fact the odds of any female replacing Daniel Craig is currently 12-1.

However Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has given the final word on the matter.

Speaking with The Guardian, she said: “Bond is male.

“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.”

He added: “And an increasing portion of the James Bond market is in the Far East, South Asia and in parts of the world where their values are different, shall we say.

“These are more male-centered societies. And in those societies, I think it would be a hard sell to have your leading secret agent as a female.

“Now that may well change in 20, 30 years’ time. But I think one has to be aware there are commercial reasons.”

Meanwhile Broccoli also admitted that Bond couldn’t be considered a feminist property.

She added: “It was written in the 50s, so there’s certain things in [Bond’s] DNA that are probably not gonna change.

“But look at the way the world has changed. And 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.”

On the possibility of a female director one day, Broccoli said: “Yes, absolutely. As a female producer, of course I’d like to do that.”