Ten days after the final tests for the most coveted role in British cinema, an actor has emerged as one of the big favorites to don the 007 tuxedo in Denis Villeneuve’s next film.
Bookmaker William Hill has slashed the odds on Callum Turner being named the next James Bond from 3/1 to 8/13, with former favorite Jack Lowden now at 2/1. Josh O’Connor, who also auditioned recently, is now at 9/2, with Richard Madden, Robert Pattinson and Joe Alwyn at 16/1.
The surge in activity was sparked by the announcement this weekend of Turner’s resignation as director of his own production company, Twentytwo Films Ltd, which he founded last August with his wife, musician Dua Lipa. Some have interpreted this as an indication that Turner’s filmmaking priorities may now lie elsewhere.
On Saturday, the couple also posted photos on social media of themselves dressed up for Halloween while sipping martinis – the British spy’s signature cocktail.
And in a new interview, former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan also backed Turner, who played his son in the 2017 drama The Only Living Boy in New York. “Callum is someone I’ve worked with,” Brosnan told Vanity Fair, “and he’s so strong.”
Brosnan added: “All the men who are now on the list are actors that I admire. They all have a voice, a physique and a presence in films. They all have longevity as actors, all these young men.”
Turner, Lowden and O’Connor are all 36-year-old white, heterosexual movie stars, suggesting that whichever of them wins the role, the approach taken by the new owners of the Amazon MGM brand won’t stray much from the Ian Fleming model.
Speaking to GQ, Lowden said the rumors linking him to the role were “all very flattering. It’s nice to be mentioned – for any role – and I’m just not really going to add to the noise.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, O’Connor also sought to embrace and downplay speculation. “To be considered in this same category is extraordinary,” he told the BBC. “It’s an incredibly weird pinch-me moment…even being said in the same sentence and being considered for something like that.”
It’s unclear if an announcement from the production company behind the 26th film in the series is imminent, but producer Amy Pascal said the news would likely be revealed “by the end of the year.”
Turner began his career as a model before breaking through in films such as John Boorman’s 2014 drama Queen and Country, as well as the second and third Fantastic Beasts films, The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Secrets of Dumbledore, in which he played Newt Scamander’s brother.
More recent films include George Clooney’s rowing saga The Boys in the Boat (2023), and the love triangle romantic comedy Eternity (2025) opposite Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller.
Turner will next be seen in the Rosebush satire Pruning, which premiered in Berlin earlier this year, and the cyberpunk series Neuromancer. He is currently in production on two films: Possession, a horror from the director of the Smile franchise, and Marielle Heller’s The Comebacker, a sports comedy starring Tom Hanks.
If appointed, Turner will reprise the role from Daniel Craig, whose last outing as 007, No Time to Die, was released in 2021. The narrative of the 25th film in the series gave the franchise a sense of closure, with Bond apparently dying, before a title card promised: “James Bond will return.”
In February 2025, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, heirs to producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and longtime managers of the Bond films, sold the rights to “creative control” of the franchise to Amazon MGM Studios in a deal worth more than $1 billion.
Pascal and David Heyman were then named producers of the new film, followed by Dune’s Villeneuve as director and Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight as screenwriter. Its release would be scheduled for 2028.
Broccoli, who retains some ownership rights to the character, said last year that the new Bond would be “male,” adding: “He’ll probably be in his 30s. Whiteness isn’t a given.”
Villeneuve’s hiring has led many to suspect that the new Bond film will be gritty, gritty and cinematic, unlike some of the more tongue-in-cheek installments helmed by Roger Moore and Sean Connery.
Speaking after his involvement was announced, Knight said: “I will be able to produce something the same but different, and better, stronger and bolder. »
Craig’s announcement of his intention to step down from the role, as well as the significant delay in the release of his latest Bond film due to Covid, means many actors have had their names linked to the role over the past four years.
Tom Hiddleston, Tom Hardy and Idris Elba were long considered favorites, but all three left the race as longer production on a new film was delayed.
Since then, other names in the running include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Tom Holland, James Norton, Damson Idris, Henry Cavill, Theo James, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal and Jamie Dornan.
The first actor to play the role of Bond was Scottish star Connery in Dr. No in 1962. The film was so successful that he returned to make four more films over the next five years, which are considered by many to be among the franchise’s best: From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball and You Only Live Twice.
Fleming’s choice for the role, English actor David Niven, starred in the original non-canonical film Casino Royale (1967), while Australian star George Lazenby joined him for one outing, in 1969, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, before Connery joined him for Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
Moore later gave the series a more tongue-in-cheek spin for his seven films between 1973 and 1985, including Octopussy and The Spy Who Loved Me, with Connery returning in 1983 for Never Say Never Again.
The role then went to British actor Timothy Dalton for two films in the late 1980s; a five-year gap preceded Irish actor Brosnan’s debut in 1995 with GoldenEye. He made four films as 007 before Craig’s tenure began.
The official James Bond films have grossed a total of $7.8 billion to date, making the franchise the fifth highest-grossing franchise in history. Revenues from merchandise sales and sponsorship deals are estimated to far exceed this figure.
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