George Clooney reveals his pick to be the next James Bond

George Clooney reveals his pick to be the next James Bond (Ian West/PA)

Hollywood star George Clooney has said Idris Elba should be the next James Bond.

The upcoming Bond film No Time To Die will be Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 but his successor has not yet been announced.

Speaking on Mark Wright’s Evening Show on UK radio network Heart, Clooney ruled out playing the suave spy himself, adding that he thought Bond should be British.

He quipped ‘go hire someone else!’ when asked what he would say to an offer of Bond, adding: “First of all because, I’ll be 60 this year so it’s a little late for the Bond thing. Second of all, Bond should be a Brit don’t you think? I mean properly. It just feels wrong”.

Following the announcement that Craig will be stepping down from the role, stars including Elba, Outlander’s Sam Heughan, James Norton and Tom Hardy have all been suggested as contenders for the part.

Clooney said Luther star Elba “should be Bond” adding: “He’s elegant, I think he’d do a great job of it”.

He explained: “That’s who I would’ve cast, sure, absolutely but in general, no I don’t think I should be.

“The closest thing I’ve ever done to any kind of hero like that was Batman and we saw how that turned out”.

Idris Elba has been among the bookies’ favourites to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond (PA)

Clooney played the Caped Crusader in 1997’s Batman & Robin, which was panned by critics and has regularly been cited as one of the worst superhero films ever.

Batman & Robin was directed by Joel Schumacher and also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the villain Mr Freeze.

The much-awaited Bond film was due to be released this year but will now be released in April 2021.