Female 007 Ruled Out by James Bond Producer

The next James Bond will not be a woman, the movies' producer said in an interview, as speculation mounts about who could replace Daniel Craig as the legendary 007.

Craig, 51, is due to step down after the latest Bond film, "No Time to Die," which will be released in April.

There's plenty of speculation about who could replace him and whether the next Bond will be female, but Barbara Broccoli said it would certainly be a man

"He can be of any color, but he is male," said Broccoli, a producer of the film alongside Michael G. Wilson.

The Bond franchise is one of the most successful movies in the world with the "Spectre" raking in $880 million worldwide at the box office in 2015, while "Skyfall" grossed over $1 billion worldwide in 2012.

Broccoli said she believed in the creation of strong female characters but added: "I'm not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are much more interesting than that."