Pierce Brosnan backtracks on female Bond comments and says ‘it has to be a man’

The actor played 007 four times

The 72-year-old Mamma Mia actor told Saga magazine that whoever takes up the mantle of James Bond next “has to be a man.”

Those comments are in direct contradiction to an opinion Brosnan clearly held back in 2019.

At the time, the Drogheda-born Irish actor told The Hollywood Reporter that the concept of a female bond was both "exciting" and "exhilarating."

He even added: “Get Out of the Way, Guys.”

After more than 60 years of stewardship under the Broccoli family, Amazon MGM took over full “creative control” of the Bond franchise in a deal worth $1 billion earlier this year, and Brosnan has now wished them luck.

Brosnan said: "I wish them well.

“I’m so excited to see the next man come on the stage and to see a whole new exuberance and life for this character.

“I adore the world of James Bond. It’s been very good to me. It’s the gift that keeps giving.

“And I’m just a member of the audience now, sitting back, saying: ‘Show us what you’re going to do’.”

Brosnan was speaking ahead of the launch of The Thursday Murder Club, an adaptation of Richard Osman's popular novel, where the actor stars alongside Dame Helen Mirren.

Also speaking to Saga, Mirren said: "I’m such a feminist, but James Bond has to be a guy. You can’t have a woman. It just doesn’t work.

“James Bond has to be James Bond, otherwise it becomes something else.”