Pierce Brosnan, whom previously played 007 four times between 1995 and 2002, says the next James Bond should be played by one of two black actors: Idris Elba or Colin Salmon. The Luther star remains the heavy favourite to replace Daniel Craig as Bond though Salmon, who previously played MI6 Deputy Chief of Staff Charles Robinson, has been backed in after getting Brosnan's blessing. 

Idris ElbaIdris Elba is the heavy favorite to play James Bond

"Yeah, he would actually," Brosnan said when asked if Elba would make a good Bond. "Colin Salmon also. May the best man get the job and may Daniel bring home the bacon for as long as he wants," he added, to the Radio Times.

The bookies have Salmon as a 50/1 outside to become Bond, though Elba remains far-and-away the most likely candidate, at 2/1.

In the recent Sony email hack, it was revealed that former chairman Amy Pascal was set on the idea of having the Luther man get into the black tuxedo.

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"Idris should be the next Bond", Pascal said simply in an email to Elizabeth Cantillon, former executive vice president of production for Columbia Pictures, which distributes the Bond films.

When The Daily Beast spoke to actor Jamie Foxx earlier this year, the actor said he said he was a massive fan of the idea of Elba as Bond.

"I ran into Idris and I said, 'You know you're the mother*ckin' James Bond, right?'", he said.

The British star has previously mocked the idea of himself replacing Craig, posting a picture of himself pulling a silly face and captioning: "Isn't 007 supposed to [be] handsome? Glad you think I've got a shot!"

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