The rumour mill is both shaken and stirred at the prospect of the next James Bond star being inadvertently — maybe — leaked.
Speculation has been swirling online in recent days that British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the star of films like 2024’s Kraven the Hunter and the 2022 hit Bullet Train, is poised to take on the role of the world’s most beloved and admired spy after Swiss watchmaker Omega announced the 34-year-old is its new global brand ambassador.
Both Taylor-Johnson and Omega shared images over the past week of him sporting its watches and touring its factory.
Why is that a big deal you ask? The luxury brand has adorned Agent 007 for 30 years, worn in films and ads by recent Bond actors Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, which is why fans and oddsmakers — yes, you can place your bets on the next Bond — took note of the Taylor-Johnson/Omega marriage.
While Taylor-Johnson has been on several lists of potential actors who could portray the suave and sexy super spy in the franchise’s 26th instalment, Bond is a fixture in popular culture like few others and predicting who and what’s next for him is somewhat of a sport in its own right.
And because it’s the “off season” for fans right now, it’s the perfect time to watch for any indication of a big announcement, says Lisa Funnell, a Hamilton-based scholar and author who has been researching Bond books, film and culture for more than 20 years.
It’s been nearly four years since the last film of the Craig era, No Time to Die, was released — which was delayed more than a year due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The longest period between Bond films was six years, after Roger Moore’s last turn in 1989’s Licence to Kill and Brosnan taking the torch in 1995’s GoldenEye.
“I think until we get a full announcement coming at us, we’re not going to know. We’re only going to be speculating, which is kind of fun,” she said.
The perfect Bond
Taylor-Johnson has a lot going for him, says British writer and and Bond aficionado Mark O’Connell, adding that he has met the actor and is cheering for him.
“He’s definitely in my top three or five Bond contenders,” he said.
“He looks great on screen. The camera loves him. Maybe the box office doesn’t yet, Kraven didn’t do so well, but the box office and the magazine covers… really love him.”
But O’Connell isn’t taking the Omega partnership as a sign of anything, pointing to the fact another contender, Academy Award-nominated Irish actor Barry Keoghan, is also affiliated with the brand.
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It may also be worth noting that Taylor-Johnson was sporting an Omega Speedmaster watch in the photos the company posted on social media, while Keoghan was sporting one of its Seamaster series, which is the line that Bond wore in the last nine films.
But, moving on.
O’Connell thinks Taylor-Johnson stands a solid chance not just because of his looks and acting chops but because he’s not too big of a star yet.
He says the franchise has typically casts actors who aren’t household names.
Both he and Funnell agree that a superstar like Superman franchise heartthrob Henry Cavill, whose name has been tossed around and who certainly has the look, is just too big for Bond.
That’s something that could also count out someone like Jonathan Bailey, whose star is soaring with the blockbuster Wicked and the upcoming Jurassic World: Rebirth.
One thing O’Connell believes is a sure bet is that the next Bond will be British (sorry Canadian, American and Australian actors).
Bond enters the Amazon era
The Hollywood Reporter predicted in December that the next Bond would be Josh O’Connor, known for last year’s Challengers and his Emmy-winning turn as Prince Charles in the Netflix series The Crown, suggesting longtime series producer Barbara Broccoli “has always led from the gut, not caved to popular opinion.”
But here’s the thing: She’s no longer has creative control of the franchise her family has helmed since its inception in the 1960s.
Amazon and MGM Studios are now in charge (MGM owns the rights to the film franchise, Amazon now owns MGM), after striking a deal earlier this year and has already tapped Amy Pascal and David Heyman to produce the film known, for the moment, as Bond 26.
That shift left a lot up in the air, says Funnell.
“We’re entering into brand-new territory,” she said.
The new producers, she says, could go in a new direction that might not necessarily “fall in step with all the rules that the Bond franchise has had up to this point.”
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Funnell suggests Amazon has an advantage by having so much streaming data and information about what’s being watched by which demographics, and that could help inform its decisions of both what kind of star it wants — possibly someone who will attract younger audiences — and the style of Bond movie it makes.
She says Amazon also has to take into account the success of other Bond-esque films that have filled the void since the last feature, including two Mission: Impossible movies.
She’s personally keen to see a return to a more classic style; movies more about the missions and lots more of the gadgets.
“I want things that explode, exploding pens, whatever,” she said — rather than the more style-driven and and “deeply personal” storylines of the Craig era.
O’Connell doesn’t think Amazon will shake things up too much because it’s “really keen to get it right.”
As for a big star reveal, he says it likely won’t happen until the next writer and director are announced, noting many eyes have been on Oscar-winning Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón (Roma, Gravity). But that, too, is speculation.
Explorations airs an intimate chat with James Bond creator Ian Fleming in his Jamaican hideaway Aired on the CBC-TV program Explorations on Aug. 17, 1964.
