On a tangentially related topic, I heard a rumor today that Idris Elba is being considered for the role of Bond whenever Craig steps down. I think he'd be excellent for it.

It would be interesting to see a black Bond, so i'm all for it, though i'd personally love to see Jason Statham tackle the role next.

Gees he was good in The Wire, but I can't see this happening. Do you have any articles or sites to back up this rumor Ken, or is this comment more satire?

I'm assuming you're referring to Denise Richards? Yep, worst Bond herione ever -- next to Tanya Roberts.

According to IMDb, Idris Elba was originally the producers' choice to play Alex Cross (in ALEX CROSS). When he was either unavailable or turned down the role, it was offered to Tyler Perry.

Idris Elba is an incredibly nuanced and gifted actor and was the best actor and character on The Wire, in my mind. He's been in the running for everything from Alex Cross to Django, and to me would have been a much better choice in both. His screen presence is undeniable, although his film roles are mostly in poor films. To his credit, he did apparently beat out Tom Cruise (not the coup that would once be of course) for DelToro's Pacific Rim next year, so hopefully that will launch him into stardom next year along with the Mandela biopic.

As far as the Bond role, the internet rumors seem unclear who said what and what actual "talks" have occurred. Naomie Harris certainly has given her endorsement. I think he'd be phenomenal in the role, especially if they desired to keep the seriousness that Craig has brought to the role going.

Remember when Cuba Gooding Jr was being considered? Oy.

I acutally kind of liked Richards, my vote for worst bond girl goes to Maryam D, Abo, just totally flat and uninteresting.

Never heard of Cuba being considered for Bond though, he couldn't have been much worse then Lazenby was.

It would seem that neither of you remember Barbara Bach in The Spy Who Loved Me. If ever there was a Bond girl who fit the "airhead bimbo" archetype, it was her by a long mile.

I was trying to block her out of my mind, same with Jane Seymour in Live And Let Die.

Whoa, did you two see the same "Spy Who Loved Me" that I did? I found very little bimbo-ness in the future Mrs. Ringo Starr's character. And at least she wasn't a mere damsel in distress like most of the other Moore heroines (Lois Chiles and Carole Bouquet being the other exceptions).

My personal bottom 5 Bond heroines (in no particular order):

- Maryam d'Abo (Kara Milovy, "The Living Daylights") -- as Vex pointed out, virtually no personality
- Britt Ekland (Mary Goodnight, "The Man with the Golden Gun") -- this bumbling bimbo is actually a secret agent? Uh, OK...
- Jane Seymour (Solitaire, "Live and Let Die") -- probably the most utterly helpless Bond heroine of all time
- Tanya Roberts (Stacy Sutton, "A View to a Kill") -- totally helpess AND a total airhead
- Denise Richards (Christmas Jones, "The World Is Not Enough") -- the ever-wooden Richards playing a nuclear physicist?? Really?

Goodnight... ugh. Hurts my brain to think about it.

At least Denise Richards was kind of funny in a way.

Yep, I did see the same film, only I wasn't apparently drinking and/or smoking weed while doing so. She is easily the most brainless Bond girl ever for me, and this is especially highlighted by the fact that she plays a supposedly badass Russian superspy.


I think it's just easier to list the Bond girls who weren't (complete) bimbos. My list of good Bond girls would be as follows:

- Diana Rigg (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
- Eva Green (Casino Royale)
- Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) - She gets onto this list by being one of the very few Bond girls who DOESN'T end up in the sack with the protagonist.
- Honore Blackman (Goldfinger)
- Izabella Scorupco (GoldenEye)

Can't argue with any of those. My top 5 Bond Heroines (also in no particular order):

Cary Lowell (Pam Bouvier in "License To Kill"): She could kick ass with the best of them. None of that save me James shit. SHe even saved him a few times.
Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh in "Tomorrow Never Dies"): See above.
Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman in "Goldfinger"): Tenacious as hell.
Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach In "The Spy WHo Loved Me") No bimbo.
Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet in "For Your Eyes OnlY") No bimbo.

Others: Izabella Scorupco in Goldeneye, Diana Rigg In On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Eva Green in Casino Royale.

Halle Berry was one of my personal favorites, along with Michelle Yeoh, Izabella and Olga.

I don't think there's any immediate consideration of a new actor. The producers are happy with Craig and Craig has stated he plans to do another 2-3 films after SKYFALL. Eon is hoping to return to the every-other-year schedule, which would mean the earliest they would need another Bond would be in time for the 2018 film, and possibly not for a few years after that. Front-runners today are often not front-runners when it comes to announcing the change. Remember Clive Owen?

The problem is that she was pure cheese in a film that was playing it straight and serious in every other respect. Just too much contrast in tone.

To me, Barbara Bach and Tanya Roberts were much less annoying because the films they featured in were fairly cheesy in many respects, and there wasn't such a great clash in tone.

Indeed, Richards' barely plausible turn was almost a harkening back to the Moore era. And "Die Another Day"'s general silliness was an even bigger indication that the series was heading back into Moore territory. It's probably a good thing they cut it off at the head before things took too much of a Michael Bay-/Stephen Sommers-/Roland Emmerich-esque turn. For me, the producers didn't fully hit on the right tone with Moore as Bond until "The Spy Who Loved Me." Of course, by the time of about "Octopussy," that format's novelty began to wear off, and, also by that time, the American action movie in general began to take on a more intense and slightly more violent tone. And by the time they finally got on board with this when Dalton arrived, R-rated action movies like "Lethal Weapon" and "Predator" had already surpassed it again.

I think that the best Bond girl was Michelle Yeoh.
If ever there was a breakout charactor that deserved her own film it's her.
She was everything that Babara Bach and Halle Berry should have been.
She was the equal of Bond.

My favourite Bond girls:

Honor Blackman/Pussy Galore (Goldfinger) : beautiful , skilful and very independent good match for 007
Ursula Andress / Honey Rider (Dr No) : Sexy like hell (in the good sense )
Lois Chiles / Dr Holly Goodhead (Moonraker) : Collaboration with the CIA at its best lol
Halle Berry / Jinx (Die Another Day) : Collaboration with the CIA still at its best

Cheers

Lotte Lenya in "From Russia with Love" ( , but I can barely remember the actual Bond girl from that film. (I do remember Andress and Blackman; haven't seen the other two.)