James Bond: what's next for 007?

Three years on from Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond, we still don't have "an heir apparent sized up for the tuxedo", said Den of Geek's David Crow.

Eon Productions is reportedly holding meetings with potential directors for the next film, but there is still no actor to play the character who was "shockingly killed off" in the last instalment in 2021. At the time, "think pieces pondered whether he really needed to come back", but now "headlines have transitioned dangerously close to 'why haven't they cast the next Bond yet?!'"

When will the next James Bond come out?

"Late 2026, at the ­earliest. Maybe 2027. Perhaps even 2028," said The Telegraph, citing the British film industry's "current best guesses". The franchise has "taken a similar hiatus before", such as the gap between 1989's "Licence to Kill" and 1995's "GoldenEye", starring Pierce Brosnan.

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Apart from this guesstimate, we know little else. There's "no script, no title, not even a director", no source material has been selected, there's no singer for the title theme and 007 is yet to be recruited. "If Blofeld strikes in the next 24 months, we're basically doomed."

Why the delay?

Some are speculating that the problem is "creative", the difficulty of rebooting a series "after allowing its main character to die", but industry insiders say it's more likely to be financial, said The Times. Amazon's acquisition of MGM Studios for $8.5 billion means that it now owns half of the rights to Bond.

Co-producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are "no longer handcuffed to an ailing studio that could only afford to lurch from one film to the next". With Amazon on side, "they are able to plan the next three or four films at the same time". This means lots of work is going on behind the scenes, Ajay Chowdhury, media lawyer and co-author of the Bond history book "Some Kind of Hero", told the paper. "The Bond franchise is like a plot of land and Amazon are building the utilities," he said. "Casting is like hanging the curtains."

The delay could even be the "greatest of blessings", said Crow at Den of Geek. The franchise increasingly "resembles a bespoke, prestige label which is deliberately keeping its supply limited".

Who will be the next James Bond?

Who knows, said Esquire. "You might as well get the Ouija board out to ask the spirit of Cubby Broccoli what he reckons."

What we do know is that Bond is now a more "mutable figure" than he used to be, and from interviews with insiders the next 007 is likely to be British, male and not too "fresh-faced".

Casting director Debbie McWilliams told the Radio Times last year that in the last Bond recast, they had auditioned a lot of younger actors but they lacked the "gravitas", "experience" and "mental capacity" to take on the role.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the bookmakers' favourite. He "has it all", said GQ. Plus, of course, he is "no stranger to stunts" as an "action star in the making" through roles in the Kick-Ass movies, "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "Godzilla" and "Bullet Train". What's more, he has a fantastic "emotional range".

Another recent option is Leo Woodall, the reason you sobbed ugly tears all the way through Netflix's "One Day". He is "very, very young", said Esquire. But given how slow moving the Bond juggernaut is, he could "easily be in his late thirties before a decision is actually made". Oscar-nominated Barry Keoghan's turn in "Saltburn" has also made him a "must-watch".

Conclusion, no one knows anything, but knowing nothing is exactly what keeps us talking about it. Which surely makes for one of the cleverest marketing campaigns in movie history.