EXCLUSIVE: The process of discovering the next James Bond has been long and painstaking, but all signs point to the search coming to an end as Amazon MGM Studios holds its final auditions over the next week.
Sources tell Deadline that screen tests for the role of Bond could begin as early as Friday and continue into next week for his final group. At least four test offers have been issued and, although not confirmed, insiders tell Deadline that three of the four expected candidates are Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor.
Amazon MGM Studios could not be reached for comment.
The tests were originally scheduled for earlier in the month, but due to scheduling conflicts with the finalists, they were pushed back to the end of the month so they could take place around the same time. Even with testing ending next week, there is no timetable for when a final decision will be made, although most believe it will be made by the end of the year.
The process to find the next 007 dates back to the spring, when the studio announced that casting director Nina Gold was joining the project and the search was underway. After two months of meetings, Deadline announced that the first round of hearings would take place in August; Since then, the studio, producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman and director Denis Villeneuve have narrowed the list down to its final group and developed test offers in September.
Since gaining full creative control of the franchise this year, Amazon MGM has been painstakingly searching for the behind-the-scenes talent who will oversee the development of this next picture in the series. Pascal and Heyman were the first to be recruited and after meeting with a number of directors, the studio brought in Villeneuve to direct the film. The same steps were also taken before bringing in Steven Knight last summer to write the script, and since then the focus has been on getting the story in the right place before auditioning the actors to play the role.
We will update you further as this process continues to unfold.
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