Auditions to cast the new James Bond have finally opened five years after the famed spy’s last outing on the big screen.
Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 in No Time to Die in 2021 was a critical and box office success, but fans of the spy have been left desperately waiting for news on who might replace him.
That announcement has been delayed after the Broccoli family, which held an iron grip on the franchise for decades, handed over creative control to Amazon MGM Studios.
The production company, which was formed when Amazon bought MGM in 2022, has been quiet on who might fill Craig’s boots, but it has no teased there will be ‘exciting 007 news’ in the coming months.
In a statement revealing it was now auditioning actors for the role, Amazon MGM Studios said: ‘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’.
In the last half a decade there has been a lot of speculation about who may be the perfect candidate to be the new 007, with a host of familiar names rising to the top time and time again.
A collection of well established stars, younger talents and out-of-left-field suggestions are currently top of the bookmakers odds to become the seventh James Bond.
James Bond creators Amazon MGM Studios finally shared an update on the new 007 yesterday and speculation has gone wild over Daniel Craig’s replacement; pictured Craig in 2006
BAFTA nominee Callum Turner is currently the bookies favourite. He has been in the Fantastic Beasts franchise
Second in line is Harris Dickinson – due to play John Lennon in the upcoming Beatles biopics
Callum Turner is the current 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’s 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.
Australian Jacob Elordi is currying favour following his steamy romance role in Wuthering Heights alongside Margot Robbie
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (right) and Theo James (left) are also billed as top prospects to be the next Bond. Pictured at the UK premier of Fuze in which they starred together
Jack O’Connell who starred in Oscar winning Sinners has also risen in the imagination of Bond fans
Henry Cavill – best known for playing Superman – is also billed as a potential contender
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.
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.”
What qualities should the next James Bond absolutely have, and who do you think fits the bill?
Bond creators released a statement yesterday about casting the next super spy
Daniel Craig was the longest serving 007 in the franchise’s history as he playing the British spy for an incredible 15 years; pictured in Skyfall in 2012
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.
