"Bond, JAMES Bond"
How ridiculous is that going to sound coming from a woman?
Its a staple phrase of James Bond.
If they change it to JANE Bond it will no longer be a James Bond movie.
Plus, James Bond is a known womanizer. His demeanor around beautiful women sells his character as a smooth operator. It has been generally accepted by the public.
Reverse the roles to a female and it could come across as a sleazy woman which cause women disgust or contempt. You see that in society all the time. You might have even lived it during school. It changes the character too much and the connection the viewer has with the character will take a serious hit. Who wants to see a woman flaunting and wooing men like James Bond has in the past?
They can cast any ethnic, race or creed as James Bond but it must be a man. The 'soul' of the James Bond movie is a male perspective.
Look what happened when they tried to make the Mummy female. Universal's Dark Universe took a hard hit over those choices to the point they abandoned a whole series of films which were supposed to happen.
It would be like trying to make a Rambo movie using a female Rambo.
The Rambo example is a real good one!
I don't see it working either with a woman, not even now that Daniel Craig has kind of moved the Bond character away from lame flirty crap with women. Yes, there was always a woman but the interaction was entirely different from for instance the Roger Moore way. That was great back then, not anymore.
But as you say... a woman doing a similar thing would easily come across as cheap.
And indeed, if they'd name it Jane Bond -which I don't know they'll do btw- it'd be a different character.
Anywho, wait and see how it's going to pan out. Maybe it'll turn out to be the one movie only when ratings will drop? Didn't George Lazenby do only 1 as well?