Director at the centre of Idris Elba Bond rumours dismisses "made up" reports
Antoine Fuqua says reports of his conversation with Barbara Broccoli were fabricated
Last week, rumours were rampant that Idris Elba would be the next man to play James Bond after Daniel Craig's final outing. But days later, they have been shot down by the man at the centre of a bizarre game of Chinese whispers, director Antoine Fuqua (who worked on The Equalizer 2 and The Magnificent Seven remake).
On Thursday, The Daily Star reported that Bond producer Barbara Broccoli had told Fuqua that "it is time" for a non-white actor to take on the role. They quoted "a pal" of the directors' – and the story was picked up by dozens of outlets.
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But now, a rep for Fuqua has shot down the Daily Star's report as "made up stuff", clarifying that the director never discussed 007 with Broccoli.
"He never had a conversation with Barbara about the franchise or about any casting. It’s all made up stuff. Not sure how it got started," the rep told The Hollywood Reporter.
Elba has long been a fan-favourite to replace Daniel Craig in the James Bond film series – but there is yet to be any official word on what route the producers will take when Craig steps down after the upcoming Bond 25.
The actor did, however, add fuel to the fire of speculation this past weekend, by tweeting, rather suggestively: "my name's Elba, Idris Elba."
Don't write off Mr Elba just yet.
