In recent years, there’s been a larger push in Hollywood for female characters in franchises to get their moment. Yet, the Bond movies is one of the few longtime franchises left that has yet to really point the spotlight on its women. But between the iconic Bond girls and Naomie Harris’ Eve Moneypenny, there’s certainly room for more than just a touch of femininity to enter the world of M16 agents.
Ahead of reprising her role as Moneypenny in the 25th Bond film, No Time To Die, in 2020 the Oscar-nominated Moonlight actress has revealed she’s talked to the Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk filmmaker Barry Jenkins, and he wants to direct Naomie Harris in a Moneypenny spinoff film. Here’s what Harris said:
Yes, he’s wanted to do a badass/kickass kind of action-thing with Moneypenny— which I’m all for, actually. I got together with Barbara Broccoli, our producer, and was like, ‘let’s make this happen!’ But she wasn’t so down for it. So...maybe one day. Who knows? The conversation has started, at least. And we’re continuing it here.
Wow, Naomie Harris even went to Barbara Broccoli with the idea! She’s the daughter of Albert R. Broccoli, who produced the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, in 1962, and has since been kept in the family with her work on 007 flicks from the ‘80s to Daniel Craig’s most recent iterations of the character. While, it doesn’t sound like Broccoli was interested in her pitch, Harris had a positive mindset about the possibility of it. She’s likely hoping for some good buzz about the project from fans following her words about it to Good Morning America.
Naomie Harris will soon reprise the role of Moneypenny for the third time in No Time To Die, which serves as Daniel Craig’s fifth and last hurrah as the iconic secret agent. The movie, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, will also star Captain Marvel’s Lashana Lynch, Lea Seydoux reprising the role of Dr. Madeleine Swann, and Ana de Armas, who is soon to star in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. With these additions and Phoebe-Waller Bridge lending her writing to the script, No Time To Die sounds to have the most women around a Bond movie ever.
There havr been talks about a “female Bond” to come after Craig, but what might be more impressive is implementing an already established female character who has roots in the franchise getting her own movie. It wouldn’t cancel James Bond’s inherent masculinity, but it would still open room for a different type of story to expand the established storyline.
Next, Naomie Harris may be joining Venom 2 as Shriek alongside Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson and Andy Serkis as director. She also stars in Black and Blue, coming to theaters on October 25.
