Industry chatter has been virtually endless since Daniel Craig retired from the Bond franchise post-Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time To Die. Now, over a year since the initial reports that he was the top candidate after a secret screen test, Aaron Taylor-Johnson of Kick-Ass, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Bullet Train fame has been “formally offered” the role of James Bond.
“Bond is Aaron’s job, should he wish to accept it. The formal offer is on the table and they are waiting to hear back,” an inside source reveals to The Sun; this has since been cited by several far more credible publications.
“As far as Eon is concerned, Aaron is going to sign his contract in the coming days and they can start preparing for the big announcement.”
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The same insider has also confirmed a screenplay is currently in development with production scheduled to kick off later this year at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire.
Beyond Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s extremely solid acting resume complete with both action cinema experience and dramatic depth, as well as his rising star power potential, he certainly fits the criteria previously outlined by veteran Bond producers Barbara Broccoli (daughter of Cubby Broccoli) and Michael G. Wilson (half-brother of Barbara).
“We’ve tried looking at younger people in the past. But trying to visualise it doesn’t work,” Michael G. Wilson explained, effectively striking out previous betting favourite Tom Holland in the process.
“Remember, Bond’s already a veteran. He’s had some experience. He’s a person who has been through the wars, so to speak.”
“He’s probably been in the SAS or something. He isn’t some kid out of high school that you can bring in and start off. That’s why it works for a 30-something.”
Barbara Broccoli added: “He should be British, so British can be any [ethnicity or race].”
“We’re working out where to go with him, we’re talking that through. There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film because, really, it’s a reinvention of Bond.”
“We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”
What makes this entire prospect even juicier is the possibility that Taylor-Johnson could also be reuniting with Christopher Nolan for the first time since Tenet.
A few months prior, rumours had indicated the Academy Award-winning Oppenheimer director was in talks to helm an entire 007 trilogy set during the Cold War. And if you really think about it, both Tenet and Oppenheimer (and Inception to some extent) have essentially been audition tapes for this very gig.
“The influence of those movies on my filmography is embarrassingly apparent. And so there’s no attempt to shy away from that. I love the films. You know, it would be an amazing privilege to do one,” Nolan admitted during an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz.
Back in 2017, the king of high-concept told Playboy: “I deeply love the character, and I’m always excited to see what they do with it.”
“Maybe one day that would work out. You’d have to be needed, if you know what I mean. It has to need reinvention; it has to need you. And they’re getting along very well.”
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At the time of this writing, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is listed as the betting favourite to become James Bond just about everywhere you can wager money on it, beating out the more established likes of Henry Cavill, Rege-Jean Page, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, and Michael Fassbender.
Christopher Nolan, on the other hand, is the Sportsbet favourite at $3.50, beating out the likes of Gina Prince-Bythewood ($5), Martin Campbell ($6), Chad Stahelski ($7), and Matthew Vaughn ($7) — the latter two having also collaborated with Taylor-Johnson with Bullet Train and Kick-Ass, respectively.
Stay tuned for key updates on the next James Bond.
