James Bond creators have finally broken their silence, announcing that auditions are now open for the superspy role, sparking rampant speculation about who will fill Bond's shoes. Last year, the Broccoli family handed over creative control to US-based Amazon MGM Studios—formed when Amazon bought Bond's parent studio in 2022—after 30 years. Daniel Craig's replacement has yet to be cast, but the creators teased 'exciting 007 news' is on the way in the coming months.
The statement from Amazon MGM Studios read: 'The search for the next James Bond is underway. While we don't plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we're excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.' Speculation has suggested acting stars far and wide in the five years since Craig's final Bond film No Time to Die, but it's been mostly radio silence from the filmmakers' side. Now, a list of the bookmakers' favourites has come to the fore.
Bookies' Favourites
Callum Turner is currently the bookies' frontrunner according to Odds Checker. The 36-year-old has been in the Harry Potter spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts as Theseus Scamander and earned a BAFTA nomination for his lead role in BBC thriller The Capture. He has starred in Apple TV's Masters of the Air and worked under George Clooney's direction in The Boys in the Boat. Turner is also engaged to pop singer Dua Lipa.
Next in line is Harris Dickinson, the 29-year-old due to play John Lennon in the forthcoming Beatles biopics. After beginning his career in British independent films and TV, he later moved to major projects including Triangle of Sadness, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and The King's Man. He also starred opposite Nicole Kidman in Babygirl and received a BAFTA TV Award nomination for A Murder at the End of the World.
Australian Jacob Elordi follows, after rising to fame in teen romance The Kissing Booth and then moving on to the hit show Euphoria alongside stars Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney. He also starred in Saltburn and Priscilla. Most recently, he starred in the steamy romance film Wuthering Heights alongside Margot Robbie.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is next, who broke into the acting world starring in Kick-Ass. He stayed in Hollywood and starred in Anna Karenina, Godzilla, and the Marvel film Avengers: Age of Ultron. He won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in thriller Nocturnal Animals and has been in darker films like Nosferatu and Bullet Train more recently.
Theo James is the next top runner after rising to fame in the Divergent series and Downton Abbey. He has also won praise for his work in The White Lotus and Guy Ritchie's gangster film The Gentlemen.
Up next, it's Jack O'Connell who started out in British teen drama Skins and then moved on to performances in Starred Up and '71. He recently starred in the Oscar-winning film Sinners and also played the lead role in the gritty prisoner of war film Unbroken.
Henry Cavill follows, best known for playing Superman in Man of Steel and later starred as Geralt in Netflix's The Witcher. He has also been in spy roles before like in Mission: Impossible – Fallout and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Director and Scriptwriter Selected
While the lead role is yet to be filled, the next film's director has been selected as Dune's director Denis Villeneuve. Peaky Blinders' Steven Knight has also been chosen to pen the script. But Bond fans will have to wait another two years before 007 is back on the big screen, marking the longest gap between movies in the franchise's 64-year history.
The super spy is no stranger to a lengthy hiatus—with a six-year hiatus between 1989's Licence to Kill, the final Timothy Dalton film, and 1995's GoldenEye, the first to star Pierce Brosnan. But with the leading actor still to be recast, a rumoured 2028 spring release means audiences will have waited a whopping seven years.
A source said: 'Bond won’t be back until 2028. The production mindset’s gone from "Let’s hurry this through" to "Make sure we get this right". Denis wanted a long break after Dune 3 and has some broad ideas on the script. Steven will get on with drafts before they map out the final version. That’ll take at least the whole summer.'
They told The Sun: 'Realistically, if they can make January 2027 work for pre-production, then that will be a success. The principal photography will run until the summer and the film always takes around nine months to a year to edit.' Bookies' predictions on who will play Bond are changing by the day, with Jacob Elordi one of the most recent favourites due to his smouldering role in the romance Wuthering Heights. The Daily Mail have contacted Amazon MGM for comment.
