The next James Bond actor may be identified by the end of 2026, but producer Amy Pascal is not naming a favorite just yet. Her latest comments offer a clearer sense of the process, not the personal casting preference some headlines have suggested.
That distinction matters after nearly five years of speculation over who will replace Daniel Craig. Craig ended his five-film run as MI6 agent James Bond with No Time to Die in 2021, leaving audiences, bookmakers and apparently much of Britain to conduct an unofficial recruitment drive.
Pascal told Deadline that an update could arrive before the year is out. “I would say the end of the year is a good bet,” she said. “We are being really, really methodical.”
What are the new Bond producers looking for?
Pascal said Craig would be difficult to follow and suggested the filmmakers want a noticeable change rather than an imitation of his performance.
“Daniel Craig is a hard act to follow,” she said. “And it’s got to be something really different that is stirring and exciting and different.”
That is a broad direction rather than a description of a particular actor. Pascal did not specify an age, nationality or name, and no major trade publication has confirmed any candidate as the choice.
The search is also taking place during the franchise’s largest management change in decades. In February 2025, Amazon MGM Studios gained creative control of Bond through an agreement with longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Amazon did not buy the property outright. The intellectual property remains in a joint venture, and Reuters reported that the parties continue as co-owners.
Amazon acquired MGM for $8.45 billion in 2022. Its first Bond film will follow 25 official Eon productions and six lead actors since Sean Connery debuted in 1962. Proceeding slowly is understandable. The studio paid rather a lot to avoid improvising.
Will Bond 26 choose a star or an unknown?
Deadline reported in June that another audition round was planned for August, with estimates placing the field anywhere from five to seven actors to a group in the teens. Production is expected to begin in 2027.
Casting director Nina Gold reportedly started meeting actors in the spring, including lesser-known performers who could be added to the more prominent names under discussion. Variety reported that 26-year-old British theatre actor Tom Francis had auditioned. Francis won an Olivier Award and received a Tony nomination for starring opposite Nicole Scherzinger in Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard.
Variety also reported that director Denis Villeneuve and Amazon MGM are seeking a younger actor. That would potentially allow the new Bond to remain in the role through several films, although the studio has not announced a target age range.
The approach creates an obvious choice: cast a recognizable actor who arrives with an established public image, or select someone audiences can discover through Bond. Pascal’s wish for “something really different” leaves room for either, but the reported auditions suggest the producers are looking beyond the names already dominating online discussion.
Why the familiar rumored names remain unconfirmed
Callum Turner has led recent betting markets, followed by actors including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Harris Dickinson, Jack Lowden and Leo Suter. Jacob Elordi and 23-year-old Louis Partridge have also appeared repeatedly in speculation. If cast, Partridge would become the youngest actor to play Bond.
Recent Ladbrokes odds listed:
- Callum Turner at 6/4
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson at 6/1
- Harris Dickinson at 6/1
- Jack Lowden at 6/1
- Leo Suter at 10/1
Those odds reflect betting activity, not confirmed studio conversations. Deadline and Variety have not verified any of those actors as current candidates. Reports in March 2024 that Taylor-Johnson was effectively confirmed never produced an official announcement.
Partridge addressed the rumors while promoting Enola Holmes 3 in June. “I don’t know what direction they want to take with it, but I think James Bond is awesome and I think every man wants to play James Bond,” he said. “And if they say they don’t, they’re lying! But we shall see, on that front.”
Idris Elba has been more direct about years of speculation surrounding him. He told British GQ that reports he had been considered were “never legit,” adding that the filmmakers should simply “Just be Bond.”
How traditional should the new Bond be?
Former Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams has argued that the eventual choice should be less familiar. She told The Independent that she opposed Elordi, Turner and Dickinson because audiences already know too much about them. Bond, she said, should retain “a total enigma.”
McWilliams also said the actor must look credible as someone “licensed to kill” and favored a selection “completely out of the blue.” Her view highlights the tension facing Amazon MGM: make Bond feel new, as Pascal wants, while preserving enough of Ian Fleming’s dangerous and elusive character for the role to remain recognizable.
Amazon MGM film chief Courtenay Valenti has said the studio is moving forward “with care and deep respect.” The creative team now includes Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve as director and Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight as screenwriter.
Barbara Broccoli has publicly supported Villeneuve, calling him “a fantastic filmmaker.” Villeneuve, a self-described “die-hard” Bond fan, has called the franchise “sacred territory” and promised to “honour the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come.”
Villeneuve is currently completing Dune: Part Three ahead of its planned December release. With Bond still in early pre-production and filming expected in 2027, the next movie is unlikely to reach cinemas before 2028. No Time to Die finished its theatrical run with nearly $800 million worldwide, so the pressure is not merely sentimental. The next actor will be carrying both a cultural institution and one of cinema’s most valuable franchises.
