Los Angeles, Jun 26 (IANS) Producer Barbara Broccoli has quipped that Duke of Cambridge, Prince William is the "perfect candidate" to become the next James Bond.

Broccoli and her sibling Michael Wilson were honored with CBEs from the Duke at the Buckingham Palace this week, reports aceshowbiz.com.

When asked who she'd like to see replace Daniel Craig in the iconic spy role, she said the Duke of Cambridge "ticks all the boxes".

According to The Mirror, she said" "Unfortunately, the person we just met isn't available. He's occupied, unfortunately, but he would be the perfect candidate.

"(He) ticks all the boxes. But he's not available, sadly. So we're still on the hunt."

It was recently claimed that Idris Elba is back in the running to play Bond.

The 'Luther' actor was believed to have stepped back from replacing Craig as the suave spy and had instead spoken to producers about potentially appearing as the villain in the next movie, but he's once again under consideration for the role of 007 after scoring favourably in market research.

A source told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column that "Idris has long been in talks to play a role in the next era of James Bond's story and last year was being considered for a role as an antagonist".

"However, talks surrounding him playing the lead have started again as producers realised how popular he would be after carrying out secret market research," she continued.

"He ranked highly among the diverse group of movie buffs invited to participate in it. They didn't want to see him as a nemesis - they want him as the hero."

Earlier this year, Idris had been in the frame for the iconic role. "We know Idris, I'm friends with him. He's a magnificent actor," she said.

"You know, he has been part of the conversation, but it's always difficult to have a conversation when you have somebody in the seat."