Female James Bond ruled out by producer Barbara Broccoli: 'He is male'

Broccoli says spy can be 'of any colour'

A James Bond producer has ruled out the idea that the character could ever be played by a woman.

Barbara Broccoli discussed the franchise in an in-depth interview with Variety, in which she touched on the topic of who will portray Bond once Daniel Craig is done with the role.

No Time to Die, the upcoming 25th Bond film, is expected to be his final outing as Bond.

Discussing potential incarnations of the spy, Broccoli said: “He can be of any colour, but he is male.

"I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”

Last year, rumours circulated that actor Lashana Lynch might become the next Bond – though it was then suggested she will actually play a character who is assigned Bond’s number, 007, as opposed to playing the Bond character itself.

No Time to Die will be released in cinemas on 2 April in the UK and 10 April in the US.

Billie Eilish will perform the title tune, becoming the youngest recording artist to do so.