There's a book out on the Bond franchise. Everything you may or may have wanted to know about it.
According to them (during book promotion tour), the Bond storyline went South when Fleming
sold the rights, and the producers sacrificed story for gadgets.
As the article indicated, the producers want to reverse the trend, that is more story, less gadgets.
Somehow, casting a black Bond is like a product flair, such as "The Wiz".
Casting a black Bond will also draw attention from the story AND the money the producers
saved in coming up with special effects and new gadgets. And probably, writers.
The Bond cachet ended with "Diamonds are Forever", IMHO.
Nothing much after Thunderball is worth buying the DVD.