Hollywood is shaken — and stirred — with chatter concerning the announcement of the subsequent James Bond.

Ever since Daniel Craig was killed off in 2021’s “No Time To Die,” after enjoying the world’s most well-known spy in 5 motion pictures, there was a slew of rumors about his substitute.

There’s been Tinseltown buzz that the brand new Bond is ready to be introduced this spring, as producer Barbara Broccoli — whose father, the legendary Cubby Broccoli, first introduced Bond to the massive display screen — final 12 months mentioned she was on the lookout for a youthful actor who may stick with the franchise for 10-12 years. (Craig was 38 in his first Bond film and 53 by the point his final one got here out.)

“It’s a very lengthy course of. Barbara does see everybody personally,” a Bond insider instructed Web page Six of the contenders. “All of them need to placed on the tuxedo and audition at Pinewood [the Bond UK studios].”

Names touted over the previous few years have included Richard Madden, Tom Hardy and web favourite Idris Elba — though the 50-year-old “Luther” actor has mentioned he’s not taking the position.

The frontrunner is now Brit Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 32, who has already met with Broccoli. He’s believed to have had a display screen take a look at final September.

The truth is, bookies now listing Taylor-Johnson the favourite to scoop the position. One film insider instructed Web page Six it might be ironic to have the actor as the primary Jewish OO7.

Bond creator and writer Ian Fleming was “notoriously anti-semitic,” because the insider identified, including: “It will be very intelligent on Barbara’s half.”

The chilling villain of Fleming’s 1958 novel “Goldfinger” is Auric Goldfinger. Repetitively, Auric is Latin for “gold.”

Fleming named the character — whose obsession with gold, wealth and energy echoes anti-Jewish conspiracy tropes — after his real-life London neighbor Erno Goldfinger, a famous Hungarian Jewish architect who moved to London in 1934. 

The writer reportedly loathed the true Goldfinger, who threatened to sue Fleming after the e-book “Goldfinger” was revealed in 1959.

Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are on board to jot down the subsequent Bond movie; the duo have written the previous few motion pictures. However “there isn’t a script and we are able to’t give you one till we determine how we’re going to method the subsequent movie as a result of, actually, it’s a reinvention of Bond,” Broccoli instructed Deadline final 12 months. “We’re reinventing who he’s and that takes time. I’d say that filming is not less than two years away.”

Within the meantime, right here’s who’s within the race to be the subsequent 007, full with stunt-betting odds from William Hill.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Bond odds: 6-4

Good-looking and armed with a humorousness, Taylor-Johnson, 32, is paying homage to one of many all-time greatest Bonds, the late, nice Scotsman, Sean Connery.

In December, it was reported that Aaron had shot scenes as Bond, filming the memorable “gun barrel teaser footage” so usually featured within the 007 franchise.

He’s already gained a Golden Globe for greatest supporting actor together with his efficiency as a smooth-talking assassin within the 2016 thriller “Nocturnal Animal,” and he memorably performed Depend Vronsky in 2012’s “Anna Karenina” alongside Keira Knightley.

Different roles embody the “Kick-Ass” sequence and enjoying Pietro Maximoff in “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Final 12 months, Taylor-Johnson starred alongside Brad Pitt in “Bullet Practice.”

The actor proved he’s in form for Bond in 2022 when he modeled for a Calvin Klein underwear advert, prompting his actor pal Jamie Dornan to joke: “You actually ought to’ve obtained your self in higher form for this. Did you overlook about it or one thing?”

At simply 21, Taylor-Johnson wed artist and director Sam Taylor-Johnson — 23 years his senior — in 2012 and so they have two daughters, Wylda Rae and Romy Hero. The couple, who mixed their surnames, renewed their vows final June.

“I knew immediately with Sam that I’d discovered my soulmate,” Aaron instructed The Telegraph of assembly Sam on the set of “Nowhere Boy.” “I knew immediately that I needed to spend the remainder of my life with this individual. I bear in mind it very nicely, and a 12 months to the day [after] I met her I proposed. I knew I needed a household along with her, I knew I needed children, and a month later she was pregnant with our first youngster.”

He added that their age distinction by no means bothered him due to his background as a toddler actor.

“I labored in an grownup setting from an early age; I had open, direct conversations with administrators, producers, actors, the place my opinions could be valued and matter,” Taylor-Johnson has mentioned. “I grew up fairly shortly — I left college at 15. I had a very completely different upbringing from my children.”

Subsequent up, Taylor Johnson stars within the hotly-anticipated Spider-Man spinoff “Kraven the Hunter.”

Paapa Essiedu

Bond odds: 3-1

The “Gangs of London” star might be set to develop into the primary black James Bond after a sudden rush of bets on him earlier this month.

Essiedu obtained Emmy and BAFTA nominations for his efficiency as Kwame within the 2020 HBO sequence “I Could Destroy You,” alongside his good pal Michaela Coel. 

The 32-year-old is a proficient Shakespearean actor and in 2016, starred within the Royal Shakespeare Firm productions of “Hamlet” and “King Lear.”

Born in London, Essiedu was raised by his single mom, who taught vogue and design, after his lawyer father returned to Ghana when Essiedu was a child. An solely youngster, he has mentioned mentioned he was left heartbroken when his mom died of breast most cancers whereas he was in his first 12 months of drama college.

Now starring within the TV sequence “The Lazarus Undertaking,” airing on TNT, Essiedu lives together with his girlfriend, comic Rosa Robson, and says that each selection he makes as an actor is political — from what roles he takes to the place he performs and who he performs with.

James Norton

Bond odds: 4-1

Whereas most People gained’t have heard of Norton, he’s identified by within the UK for his astonishing efficiency as psycho-rapist Tommy Lee Royce within the TV hit “Completely satisfied Valley,” which earned him a BAFTA nomination.

The luxury actor, who additionally performed a vicar within the widespread UK present “Grantchester,” studied at Ampleforth Faculty — typically referred to as the “Catholic Eton” — the place, Norton has mentioned, he was massively bullied.

He’s at the moment starring in London’s West Finish in “A Little Life,” the stage model of Hanya Yanagihara’s best-selling novel, prompting many headlines about him stripping off for the position.

At 37, Norton — whose girlfriend is actress Imogen Poots — could also be thought of too outdated to embark on the Bond position, however he has already been coated in gold (à la Goldfinger) for the HBO present “The Nevers.”

Henry Cavill

Bond odds: 5-2

Identified for the previous decade as Superman, Cavill immediately has time on his fingers to be Bond.

A shake-up at Warner Bros. noticed the “Man of Metal” star dumped from the caped position in December when director and DC Studios co-chair James Gunn introduced plans for a brand new film specializing in a youthful model of the superhero.

Cavill’s “Argylle” director Matthew Vaughn has mentioned that enjoying 007 is one thing the actor was “born to do” — and, certainly, he’s come shut earlier than.

Cavill, who has a Roger Moore smoothness, got here very near getting the Bond position earlier than Craig was solid in 2006’s “On line casino Royale.”

On the “Completely satisfied Unhappy Confused” podcast final October, Cavill revealed: “They instructed me I used to be shut, sure … They instructed me it was in the end right down to … me and Daniel.”

However Cavill, now 39, isn’t sore he misplaced the half to Craig. “I believe it was an incredible option to go together with Daniel. I in all probability wasn’t prepared on the time,” he has admitted.

Now, the clock is ticking as Cavill is getting old out of the position.

“Whether or not I’m thought of for the position or not, I don’t know, however, it’d be enjoyable to have the dialog, for positive,” he’s mentioned.

Regé-Jean Web page

Bond odds: 7-1

Well-known for his steamy intercourse scenes within the first season of “Bridgerton,” dapper Brit Web page would, like Essiedu, make historical past as the primary black Bond.

“It’s a dialog individuals are having, and it’s terribly flattering that they’re having it,” the 34-year-old instructed Self-importance Truthful in February of 007 casting buzz.

Web page turned an in a single day success in 2020, enjoying the dashing Duke of Hastings within the first season of “Bridgerton” reverse Phoebe Dynevor. However he surprised followers by not returning for a second season — leaving some considering he had gotten too huge for his britches.

In January, it was revealed {that a} Web page was decided to be essentially the most good-looking man on the earth based mostly on a scientific idea that measures facial symmetry (his so-called Golden Ratio was 93.65%, in comparison with 93.53% for Chris Hemsworth and 93.46% for Michael B. Jordan.

The actor’s most up-to-date position was within the film model of “Dungeons & Dragons.”

To this point, Web page has performed coy about his curiosity in being Bond.

“It’s not a factor that’s totally occupying my ideas,” he’s mentioned. “I’ve obtained sufficient on my plate for the time being. I fear concerning the work I’ve, not different folks’s jobs.”