Ten days after final screentests for the most coveted role in British cinema, one actor has emerged as a strong favourite to don the 007 tux for Denis Villeneuve\u2019s forthcoming film.<\/p>\n
The bookmaker William Hill has cut the odds of Callum Turner<\/a> being named as the next James Bond from 3\/1 to 8\/13, with previous favourite Jack Lowden now at 2\/1. Josh O\u2019Connor, who also auditioned recently, is now at 9\/2, with Richard Madden, Robert Pattinson and Joe Alwyn at 16\/1.<\/p>\n The flurry of activity has been prompted by news over the weekend that Turner had resigned as director of his own production company, Twentytwo Films Ltd, which he founded last August with his wife, the musician Dua Lipa. Some took this as an indication that Turner\u2019s movie priorities may now lie elsewhere.<\/p>\n On Saturday, the couple also posted to social media photographs of themselves dressed for Halloween sipping martinis \u2013 the signature cocktail of the British spy.<\/p>\n And in a new interview, former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan<\/a> also endorsed Turner, who played his son in 2017 drama The Only Living Boy in New York. \u201cCallum is someone I\u2019ve worked with,\u201d Brosnan told Vanity Fair, \u201cand he\u2019s so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n Brosnan added: \u201cAll the men who are on the list now are actors I admire. They all have a voice and a physique, and a presence on film. They all have longevity as actors, all of these young men.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018They all have longevity as actors, all of these young men\u2019 \u2026 Pierce Brosnan. Photograph: Todd Williamson\/JanuaryImages for Paramount+\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Turner, Lowden and O\u2019Connor are all 36-year-old white, heterosexual film stars, suggesting that whichever of them wins the role, the approach adopted by incoming owners of the brand Amazon MGM will not stray far from Ian Fleming\u2019s template.<\/p>\n Speaking to GQ, Lowden said the rumours linking him to the role were \u201call very flattering. It\u2019s nice to be mentioned \u2013 for any role \u2013 and I\u2019m just not really going to add to the noise.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, on Tuesday O\u2019Connor also sought to simultaneous embrace and play down the speculation. \u201cTo be considered in that same sort of bracket is extraordinary,\u201d he told the BBC. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredibly bizarre pinch-me moment … even being uttered in that same sentence and being considered for something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n It is not known how imminent an announcement by the production company behind the 26th film in the series is, but producer Amy Pascal has said that the news is likely to be revealed \u201cby the end of the year\u201d.<\/p>\n Turner began his career as a model before breaking though in films such as John Boorman\u2019s 2014 drama Queen and Country, and the second and third Fantastic Beasts films, The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Secrets of Dumbledore, in which he played Newt Scamander\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n More recent films include George Clooney\u2019s rowing saga The Boys in the Boat (2023), and love triangle romcom Eternity (2025) opposite Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller.<\/p>\n Turner will next be seen in the satire Rosebush Pruning, which premiered at Berlin earlier this year, and in cyberpunk series Neuromancer. He is currently in production on two films: Possession, a horror from the director behind the Smile franchise, and Marielle Heller\u2019s The Comebacker, a sports comedy with Tom Hanks.<\/p>\n Also in the running \u2026 Josh O\u2019Connor Photograph: Image Press Agency\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n If named, Turner will take over the role from Daniel Craig, whose last outing as 007, No Time to Die, was released in 2021. The narrative for the 25th film in the series lent the franchise a sense of closure, with Bond apparently dying, before a title card promised: \u201cJames Bond will return.\u201d<\/p>\n In February 2025, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, heirs to producer Albert \u201cCubby\u201d Broccoli and longtime stewards of the Bond films, sold the rights for \u201ccreative control\u201d over the franchise to Amazon MGM Studios in a deal worth more than $1bn<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pascal and David Heyman were then brought on as producers of the new film, followed by Dune\u2019s Villeneuve as director and Peaky Blinders\u2019 Steven Knight as screenwriter. It is said to be scheduled for release in 2028.<\/p>\n Broccoli, who retains some ownership rights to the character, said last year that the new Bond would be \u201ca man\u201d<\/a>, adding: \u201cHe\u2019ll likely be in his 30s. Whiteness is not a given.\u201d<\/p>\n The hiring of Villeneuve has led many to suspect the new Bond film will be gritty, serious and cinematic, unlike some of the more tongue-in-cheek instalments led by Roger Moore and Sean Connery.<\/p>\n