It's been 2 years since Daniel Craig hung it up as James Bond -- but even now, the franchise's producers haven't done much on the next chapter ... which is kinda surprising.

Barbara Broccoli -- who's one of the key producers of the Bond franchise, and who holds the rights to all the films -- made the revelation to The Guardian this weekend ... telling them they're quite a ways out from choosing their next 007.

She says there's a "big road ahead" before their famed British spy could be reinvented for the next chapter." Even more startling is that she says the execs "haven’t even begun" the process of rebooting the franchise, which they apparently want to make more modern.

Broccoli says the next iteration of Bond has to reflect how the world has changed since DC was tapped almost 20 years ago ... and noted the character had often been reinvented. She adds, "Daniel gave us the ability to mine the emotional life of the character … and also the world was ready for it. I think these movies reflect the time they are in."

That's all fine and good ... but what's getting some head-turns here is the fact that Barbara and co. seem to be dragging their feet on this -- at least that's what some Bond fans say.

Of course, the timing is objectively on par with how long it took them the last time to recast Bond -- Pierce Brosnan's last go at it was in 2002, and Craig didn't pick up the baton until 4 years later in 2006 ... so yeah, the producers seem to like to take their sweet time.

There's also all the strike stuff that's going on in showbiz right now -- so perhaps that's also holding things up. In any case, here's hoping they can start zeroing in sooner than later.