Next James Bond: Has the New 007 Been Chosen?

GQ‘s energy rating of the prime candidates to be the subsequent James Bond is up to date recurrently—and might be till an official announcement is made.

Four and a half years later Daniel Craig took his ultimate bow as the iconic undercover agent James Bond, his successor has but to be chosen. As the franchise retools underneath new company possession and a brand new director, the query stays: who might be subsequent James Bond?

Over the years, the rumor mill has briefly mounted on one title after one other, together with Idris ElbaJames Norton, Theo James, Harris Dickinson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Callum Turner. Elba has lengthy since taken himself out of the operating, saying the position is not certainly one of his profession objectives, whereas acknowledging that it might “satisfy the will of a nation” if he took the half.

Taylor-Johnson has additionally been described in the previous as a number one candidate, with some shops reporting in 2024 that the 28 Years Later star and Omega ambassador had been formally offered the position. But as months after which years handed with out affirmation, these rumors pale.

Last February, it was announced that long-time franchise custodians Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, the daughter and stepson of OG Bond producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, had lower a billion-dollar deal to cede artistic management of the Bond franchise to Amazon MGM Studios. When Amazon founder and Bond-villainesque-luxury-yacht enjoyer Jeff Bezos straw-polled On who the subsequent Bond needs to be, the replies have been dominated by blue checks clamoring for Henry Cavill. Cavill has additionally taken himself out of the operating, stating that at 42, he is in all probability a little bit outdated for the reboot.

One factor we do know for positive is who the next James Bond director will be. Last summer time, Denis Villeneuve confirmed that he’d begin work on Bond 26 upon finishing Dune Part Threewhich hits theaters this Christmas. The subsequent James Bond screenwriter might be Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight. And unnamed insider told the Sun in April that Knight and Villeneuve might be taking their time on this one: “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…Realistically, if they can make January 2027 work for pre-production then that will be a success.”

In the meantime, deadline‘s Baz Bamigboye wrote last SeptemberVilleneuve and Amazon are reportedly seeking to forged a subsequent James Bond who’s male, British, and—possibly most significantly—a “fresh face,” probably even “an unknown.” (While Broccoli and Wilson have been stated to have most popular an actor in his mid-30s, the tech large’s preferences seem to skew decrease, with an insider telling Variety that they have been in search of a British actor in his 20s—the first Gen-Z James Bond.)

These standards seemingly put quite a few intriguing prospects off the desk, together with Timothée Chalamet, Glenn Powell and Austin Butler (too American) and Jacob Elordi (presumably too well-known, though there have been rumors he’d met with Villeneuve about the half earlier this yr.)

“Frankly, 99.9% of the names we’ve heard speculated online so far won’t make the cut,” a supply informed Bamigboye. Bamigboye additionally stories that the new Bond may very well be non-white, and it will come down as to whether the actor is correct for Bond, and proper for “the story that Villeneuve and screenwriter Knight will be telling.” His supply additionally states that it will likely be a whole reboot of the franchise following the Craig period, as was broadly anticipated. Who has utilized for the position? “Every name you’ve heard of, and many you’ve never heard of,” stated one other of Bamigboye’s sources.