Amazon Reportedly Narrows Down Three Actors for Next James Bond Role

Amazon has picked Denis Villeneuve to direct the next James Bond movie, which will be the 26th film in the famous series.

This means the project will start moving faster, but don’t expect to see the movie before 2028. Insiders say that because of the film’s huge scale, it just can’t happen any sooner. Amazon hasn’t made any official comments about this yet.

Villeneuve is a French-Canadian director known for movies like Dune. He was chosen over four other European directors: Edward Berger, Edgar Wright, Paul King, and Jonathan Nolan. Now that Amazon has its director, the next steps will be finding a writer and then an actor to become the new James Bond.

The studio and producers want a young British actor under 30 for the role. According to Variety, the main candidates are Jacob Elordi, Tom Holland, and Harris Dickinson. Even though Elordi is Australian, that’s not a problem for Amazon, after all, Australian George Lazenby played Bond before.

Other actors like Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Henry Cavill have been talked about, but they are seen as too old for this role. Idris Elba, a fan favorite, is also unlikely since he’s in his fifties and hasn’t shown interest. So far, no official meetings with actors have taken place.

Before Villeneuve was chosen, Alfonso Cuarón was a strong contender to direct. Bond producer David Heyman supported Cuarón because they worked together on a Harry Potter film. But Cuarón decided to focus on other projects, including Jane with Charlize Theron. This movie is also moving fast at Amazon, with a script being written by Jack Thorne, who worked on the Enola Holmes trilogy. It’s not clear if Cuarón will direct or just produce Jane.

Amazon also considered Christopher Nolan, the brother of Jonathan Nolan, who was among the candidates to direct Bond. Nolan’s involvement would have been a big change because the Broccoli family, who have controlled the franchise for decades, usually had strict creative control and the final say on the films. However, earlier this year, Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson stepped back and now only have a financial interest.

Unfortunately, Nolan is busy with his next movie, The Odyssey, starring Tom Holland, so he won’t be available to direct Bond anytime soon.

Denis Villeneuve himself is quite busy too. He plans to film Dune: Messiah later this year, aiming for a release in December 2026. His contract for Bond is just for one film, meaning he isn’t committed to any sequels and won’t have final cut privileges. The last director to do two Bond movies in a row was Sam Mendes with Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015).

Amazon also has a list of writers ready to work on the new Bond story. One popular idea is Jonathan Nolan might write the script since his approach to the franchise was well received at Amazon. Still, sources say he is not available to write the screenplay at the moment.

This new chapter for James Bond under Amazon is just beginning. With Villeneuve leading the way, fans have plenty to look forward to, but they’ll have to wait until 2028 for the next adventure of 007.

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