Idris Elba to play James Bond? Pierce Brosnan wants The Wire star to be next 007

If Pierce Brosnan has his way, Idris Elba will be the next James Bond.

The 61-year-old former 007 star has given The Wire star his seal of approval, insisting that Elba would be the ideal successor once Daniel Craig steps down.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Brosnan said he believes that both Elba and Colin Salmon would be able to fill the much-loved spy's boots.

"Yeah, he [Idris] would actually [make a good Bond]," Brosnan, 61, enthused, adding: "Colin Salmon also. May the best man get the job."

Salmon, 52, starred in Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

However, Brosnan admitted that he wasn't looking forward to the day 46-year-old Craig finally decides to give up his licence to kill. "May Daniel bring home the bacon for as long as he wants," he added.

Elba was first linked to the iconic 007 role back in 2012, when Skyfall Bond girl Naomie Harris claimed the London-born actor was in talks with producer Barbara Broccoli.

"I didn't realise that there was this talk and then I did a film with Idris and he said that he met [Bond producer] Barbara Broccoli and that it does seem like there is a possibility in the future that there could very well be a black James Bond," she said at the time.

In December emails leaked by Sony hackers revealed that outgoing chief Amy Pascal also backed him as the next Bond.

Although becoming the next 007 could be a huge career boost, 42-year-old Elba has stated that he doesn't want to be labelled if he was offered the coveted role.

"I don't want to be the black James Bond. Sean Connery wasn't the Scottish James Bond, and Daniel Craig wasn't the blue-eyed James Bond, so if I played him, I don't want to be called the black James Bond,'' he previously said.

"We don't say 'white Bond' we just say 'Bond', so it suddenly becomes a black man and he's a 'black Bond'. I hate that phrase."