Now that the 26th James Bond movie officially has a director attached in Denis Villeneuve, the search is officially on for whom will play 007. A report in Variety on Friday suggests Amazon MGM Studios‘ wishlist includes some familiar faces.
Variety reported that Jacob Elordi, Tom Holland, and Harris Dickinson, three of the more in-demand young actors today, are all at the top of producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman’s wishlist. The studio is supposedly looking for a British actor (or in Elordi’s case, Australian) under the age of 30, which would ostensibly eliminate some other popular one-time candidates like Henry Cavill, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, or at one point a seeming front runner, Idris Elba. However, no meetings have taken place with any candidates for the role, according to Variety.
Amazon declined IndieWire’s request for comment.
Villeneuve reportedly won the job over several other European candidates, including “Conclave” director Edward Berger, “Baby Driver” director Edgar Wright, “Paddington” director Paul King, and Jonathan Nolan, whom has a relationship with Amazon as the showrunner of “Fallout.” The report mentions that the studio was at one point very interested in getting Christopher Nolan, even if that meant giving up final cut, and that Heyman pushed hard for Alfonso Cuarón, whom Heyman produced on the third “Harry Potter” film, but that Cuarón ultimately took himself out of the running.
Should the list of Bond candidates be accurate, all three are white actors, though it has been widely suggested by fans that a future Bond could or should be a person of color. All three are also very busy, with Elordi having recently wrapped Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” and shooting the new season of “Euphoria,” Holland attached to Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” and Dickinson signing up for a full year of production on four Beatles movies as John Lennon.
Villeneuve however also has to complete “Dune: Messiah,” which is expected to begin filming as early as this summer in time for a December 2026 release date. With that timeline, it’s likely Bond 26 might not theaters until 2028 at the earliest.
Read Variety’s full report here.