The name’s Bond — James Bond. That much we know. But who will be the next man behind the famous moniker? According to Amazon MGM Studios, the company that now owns the rights to the Ian Fleming-created character, the casting process has begun.
“The search for the next James Bond is underway,” Amazon MGM Studios said in a statement this week. “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.”
The British secret agent has been portrayed by multiple actors since Sean Connery’s debut in 1962’s Dr. No. Most recently, Daniel Craig starred as Bond across five films, beginning with 2006’s Casino Royale and ending with 2021’s No Time to Die, which saw the death of his version of 007. Now everyone is guessing who could be next, with some actors volunteering to pick up the mantle.
Here’s what we know about the future of Bond — including who might portray him next.
What we know about the next Bond movie
In February 2025, Amazon MGM Studios reached a deal with longtime James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, giving the company creative control over the 007 franchise for the first time. This came four years after Amazon reached a deal to purchase MGM, in part because of the success of the Bond franchise.
Now Amazon MGM Studios is finally making moves to bring a new version of the super spy to life. Director Denis Villeneuve was tapped to helm the next installment of the franchise, with his Dune producer, documentary filmmaker Tanya Lapointe, signing on as an executive producer. Amy Pascal, producer of Project Hail Mary, and David Heyman, producer of all eight Harry Potter films, will produce the movie.
Screenwriter Steven Knight — known for Eastern Promises and also co-creating Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? — will write the screenplay.
“It has always been on my bucket list, and it’s fantastic to be invited to do it,” Knight said in a 2025 interview with BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast. ”I can’t wait to get started. I’m hoping that, being a Bond fan for so many years, it will be imbued into me and I will be able to produce something that’s the same but different and better, stronger and bolder.”
At CinemaCon in April, Courtenay Valenti, Amazon MGM’s head of film, praised the creative team, stating that they were “setting the stage for something that’s truly worthy of the Bond legacy.”
What we know about Bond casting
The casting of Bond has been very hush-hush, with Variety reporting this week that casting director Nina Gold is helping to find the ideal actor to portray the character. Gold is known for casting shows like Game of Thrones and The Crown as well as films like Conclave and Hamnet, the latter of which she was nominated for the Academy Awards’ first-ever casting Oscar.
While Bond has been played by a non-star before (George Lazenby, the Australian actor who portrayed Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, had no film experience before becoming 007), it seems like a known actor will likely land the part this time around. In November 2023, Broccoli told Yahoo Entertainment, “We’re totally open to casting a non-star, but acting is a very specialized profession, and if somebody has to carry a movie and have the range of requirements [for Bond] in terms of physicality, it’s not going to be someone who has never done it before.”
Who has spoken out about the Bond rumors?
For a while, it seemed like any and every charming actor, particularly those who hailed from Britain, were in the mix for the role — and forced to respond to the rumors. Rege Jean-Paul of Bridgerton fame told The Tonight Show in 2021 that speculation around him as the next Bond was “like a merit badge” — but stopped short of confirming any casting rumors.
Idris Elba, a longtime fan favorite for the part, fueled speculation in December when he posed at a wax museum alongside statues of actors who had previously played the role. But it came two years after Elba shut down those very rumors, telling reporters at the World Government Summit in 2023, “You know, a lot of people talk about another character that begins with ‘J’ and ends with ‘B,’ but I’m not going to be that guy. I’m going to be John Luther. That’s who I am.” And he previously told The Shop podcast in 2022 that playing Bond was not a “goal” of his career.
At this present moment, it seems like anyone could be Bond — but there are a few fan favorites. Currently, Eternity star Callum Turner is at the top of the list of contenders on betting market Kalshi. However, the actor told reporters at the Berlin Film Festival that it was “too early” for that conversation and that he would not comment on it.
Kalshi also put Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi at 19% favored for the role, but thus far, the star, who is from Australia, has yet to comment.
Behind Elordi on Kalshi is Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but at the June 2025 premiere of his film 28 Years Later, the English actor said he “can’t talk about” the casting speculation. He previously told the magazine Numéro that it’s “charming and wonderful that people see me in that role” and that he takes it “as a great compliment.”
Other names that have popped up in the press include Challengers star Josh O’Connor, who starred with Craig in the film Wake Up Dead Man.
“I have no thoughts, really,” O’Connor told Deadline in January 2025. “The truth is that … I think in the space of a week, I made a joke about, wouldn’t it be funny if I played Bond? Then, me and Daniel [Craig] did an ‘Actors on Actors,’ and then something else happened, and then suddenly I was James Bond. If I am Bond, I don’t know about it.”
Spider-Man star Tom Holland, who is also rumored to be in the mix, spoke about the casting rumors. He told Gordon Ramsey’s YouTube series Scrambled in August 2025, “I mean, every young British actor, it’s the pinnacle of working in our industry.” Holland is a big fan of the franchise: He told Total Film in 2022 that he pitched an origin story for the character to a studio.
Meanwhile, Babygirl star Harris Dickinson, another British actor thought to be in the running, spoke to a reporter about Bond at Cannes this month, teasing that Wicked star Jonathan Bailey would be a great choice. Bailey previously told BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show in June 2025 that it would be “hard to say no” to the role.
But ultimately, only one person can say yes — assuming the offer is on the table. Who that will be is right now anyone’s guess.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
