Idris Elba responds to those James Bond casting rumors

By Rick Marshall December 29, 2014

A man walks down an alley in Luther. — BBC One

After the recent Sony email hack revealed that studio execs had their eye on British actor Idris Elba as the next James Bond, speculation and debate have surrounded the potential recasting of the famous super-spy, currently played by Daniel Craig.

Over the holiday weekend, the award-winning star of Luther offered a cheeky response to all of the James Bond discussion via Twitter.

Isn’t 007 supposed to handsome? Glad you think I’ve got a shot! Happy New year people. pic.twitter.com/3g9lAl2Uo3

— Idris Elba (@idriselba) December 27, 2014

“Isn’t 007 supposed to be handsome? Glad you think I’ve got a shot!” wrote Elba in a caption accompanying a photo of the actor smirking at the camera. “Happy New year people.”

The discussion of Elba as a potential successor to Craig as James Bond was ignited by the release of a January 2014 email from Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal in which she wrote, “Idris should be the next Bond.” Debate has raged about the potential recasting of the role, which Craig has played for three films already.

The next installment of the James Bond franchise, titled Spectre and starring Craig, is scheduled to hit theaters November 6, 2015. Sony recently confirmed that the script for the film was also stolen as part of the massive cyber-attack the studio suffered.

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