Overview
- Amazon MGM is conducting final, confidential on-camera and stunt-focused screen tests to find the next James Bond, with multiple outlets identifying Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor among the leading candidates plus at least one unnamed actor.
- Jack Lowden told GQ he finds the speculation “very flattering” and declined to add to the public rumour mill, responding to Gary Oldman’s earlier comments that had intensified attention.
- Industry signals have fed expectation: Callum Turner resigned as a director of TwentyTwo Films Ltd during the casting period, and bookmakers have installed Lowden as the current favourite.
- Producers Denis Villeneuve, Steven Knight, Amy Pascal and David Heyman are overseeing the reboot and Pascal has suggested a casting reveal could come by the end of 2026, though Amazon MGM has not confirmed any selection.
- The casting fight is part of a wider debate about the franchise’s future, with former Bond actor Ben Whishaw saying the series needs a full reinvention and the new team poised to decide how 007 fits a changed world.