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I think if Elba was cast it would prove to be huge in both the UK and in the Americas.
There is a huge amount of excitement for him in particular playing this role. He's beloved in both these regions and would post huge returns. I can see Elba topping SF's box office in both the UK and the US (though much is also dependent on a knock-out film to serve the perfect double punch).
However, perhaps a billion gross is a tad hyperbolic. International audiences, in particular Europe and Asia don't take to ethnic leads in blockbusters.
But I think an Idris Elba-Bond film would make more money and have a bigger impact than a fifth Daniel Craig film. From a business perspective, he would be a gamble but he would never post middling numbers. He'd either be a unmitigated hit or a pleasing success. You win both ways.
In terms of Elba's past box office, that is kinda redundant when it comes to Bond and franchise properties. Daniel Craig has starred in several noticeable bombs but posts big numbers as 007. It's the thought of that actor in the role that draws the crowds not the actor himself. People evidently like watching Daniel Craig play Bond, just not in anything else. The same would be the case for Elba - but tenfold.
His age is a concern as Eon run a 'franchise' and would like an actor who could be tied to the property for at least a decade. If they went for Elba it would be a punt. He'd be lucky to do two films. so he's a business risk, but the commercial incentive to 'mix things up' and bet big on a higher return has never been more palpable with Elba.
The truth is simple.....we have never seen so much enthusiasm around one actor for this role. If Eon were to let this energy slide, they may miss a massive moment. Elba is a once in a lifetime candidate. They could be leaving A LOT of money on the table.
I understand what you are saying about Craig, but in 2005 no one was screaming for him to be Bond. Everyone is doing so for Elba, to the point that its almost a kind of inverted racism. It sometimes feels like people are pushing Elba to prove they aren't racist, and this would be the perfect role to prove the point.
No one wants to actually see Elba on the big screen, but boy do they want him as Bond. ??
In truth a charismatic actor like Elba should have his own franchise. Where are the ideas being developed for black actors? Black Panther has proved that a black actor can take on a new franchise. They don't want or need white character cast offs. Hollywood is letting black actors down. It isn't Eon's responsibility to change Fleming's character so dramatically.
But, if Elba were to get the role he will need elocution lessons. Or develop a script that doesn't require Bond to say things like 'firty free fousand'.
Maybe he is a bit ordinary, but no more no less imo than many names brought up here. I do think his eight is a problem, and that he's very much the flavor of the month. Be that as it may, I'd take him over many other flavours of the month mentioned here.
For those who have seen The Bodyguard, is his (lack of) height noticeable? .
They do a great job disguising Cruise’s height, unless they want to use it for effect.
One thing Elba isn t.
I'm not sure if they even bother to do this anymore. I think everyone knows Cruise is vertically challenged, but he is one of the greats and overcomes it with his megawatt star power. The only time I've seen it be an issue is for his portrayal of Jack Reacher, and in that instance perhaps rightly so given how the character was written. Since I've never read any of the novels it didn't bother me, but I can understand how it could for others.
Haha.
I'd say we don't notice it because although not tall Madden is not short. For Bond it would be different.
@bondjames I actually hope he stays on the radar, if only to make The Bodyguard popular. I quite like the series.
Yes that's what I've read. And it has been a great success with international echoes. I think it can become a genuine cult series. It has its flaws (it often gets far fetched and they have a tendency to favour big plot twists over character development), but it's part of the charm and not too shocking.
You just couldn't resist Haha!
Yep,agree 100%.
After this revelation, the media then moved onto creating more click-bait stories for Bodyguard actor Richard Madden. Again, people fall for the click-bait stories and think that just because they've read a few responses supporting the idea that it's "everyone" that's down with it. But it's a straw poll, nothing more, nothing less. Also, without knowing anything about who these pro-Elba supporters actually are that are "screaming for Elba"—such as whether they are indeed Bond fans to begin with and actually go-see the movies or are just political provocateurs trying to push their own agenda—it's futile to try and give any credence to the Elba-support-for-007 bandwagon story that continues to keep rolling on. Oh, and the guy is 46-years-old and will be almost pushing 50 by the time of the next movie. Maybe even 51!! Seriously, why are we even discussing Elba's name anymore?
This next paragraph is not directed at you @Torgeirtrap. This is solely aimed at those who use polls, awards, Rotten Tomatoes to push their own agendas or beliefs on to the rest of us. (Deep breath) I'm not interested in surveys to prove a point. Those can be faked or skewed. Without knowing anything about the demographic of the 2,086 U.S. adults that were involved, I'll take nothing from this survey that proves one thing or another. Even by their own admission, the people polled said: "they’d at least watched some of the series." That's very accurate then. When has "some" become a statistic? We're not talking an exact scientific number here to get the results. Fair-weather fans or not, who were these people? They could've all just stepped out of a K-Mart store for all we know.
The only thing of interest that came out of this survey, that I notice was glossed over by our previous poster (not you @Torgeirtrap), was that out of the 2,086 U.S. adults polled they all preferred Sean Connery out of all the other Bond actors and showed a preference for the "old school" Bond movies over the post-millennial ones, with GF, FRWL, LALD and DAF being their own top 4 Bond movies. Even TMWTGG scores extremely high, above all Brosnan's efforts and every Craig Bond movie except CR, which only narrowly beat it. So what does that prove? Because every time I read these forums, DAF is always at the bottom of the ranking and GF is often derided as being over-rated!! So does that mean that you're all wrong on these forums and that DAF is actually one of the best Bond movies in the series? Certainly looks that way.
Or does that suggest we choose what we want to see and believe?
Definitely see your point, @bondsum. However, by the time Elba would be a candidate for any role in a Bond film (if not in Bond 25, where castings aren't known to us yet), he would be way past the age of possibly star as Bond anyway. As a villain (or M), he would still be within the right age group – as both M and several villains have been older than Bond. The question is; would Elba's presence overshadow whoever plays Bond opposite him? I don't think so. One could argue Ralph Fiennes is to high-profile to play Bond (as with Judi Dench), yet still he does.
I think he could be a great villain, and a commanding M.
Interesting point re. preference in Bond films. I think the reason that many here have DAF low in their rankings (not me!), and finding GF overrated – in contrast to the "general audience", is the way we pick these movies apart, discuss their strengths and weaknesses. etc. The regular moviegoer doesn't do that.
I agree. My guess is that some of the members here over-think it and over-indulge in watching too many Bond movies to the point where they can no longer enjoy a movie and take it for what it is. Which is why our own polls here don't prove anything, they're just a bit of harmless nonsense. Either way, the 2,086 U.S. adults polled in the aforementioned article still isn't a large enough figure to draw any satisfying conclusion from. By their reckoning, DAF is considered one of the best Bond movies of the entire series. Now I don't know what the actual figure is for people having seen a James Bond film but it's been estimated that half the world's population has at least seen a Bond movie at some point in their lifetime. Doesn't matter whether this is true or not. Even if it's lower or higher, that still means that 2,086 U.S. adults polled is a paltry amount to base any overall opinion on. In other words, I'm sure had more than 2,086 people been polled, the results would be entirely different.
Not so sure he knows how to promote himself given his failures at the BO. I agree he'd make a great villain, but now he painted himself in a corner imo.