Now that Daniel Craig has officially retired as 007 after No Time To Die, all eyes are fixed firmly on the future. The race has been long, with the first frontrunners emerging after the release of SPECTRE in 2015. The early favourites were Idris Elba and Tom Hiddleston but since then many famous actors, and some unexpected dark horses, have joined the race. For almost a year, though, the public have had their own clear favourite.
Currently, bookies are in turmoil after Nexflix star Tom Hopper shot to the front. The Umbrella Academy actor came out of nowhere to land odds of 3/1 to replace Craig. However, he is not the public’s choice.
Richard Madden is also riding high again, with the imminent release of Marvel blockbuster The Eternals raising his profile all over again, after Game of Thrones and The Bodyguard.
Before the weekend, William Hill had Madden tied with Tom Hardy on 4/1 – but it is another star who fans want to see slip into the famous tuxedo.
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Page is way out in front, followed by Elba and then Poldark’s Aiden Turner and Outlander’s Sam Heughan.
What is interesting is that bookies’ favourites like Hardy and Madden are trailing far behind at seven and fourteen, respectively.
Lashana Lynch, who appeared as 007 in No Time To Die, attracted the most outright tweets in the last two years. However, the London actress’ name appears to split opinion in relation to the role, leaving her sitting tenth in the list of the top most-discussed 16 actors in contention for the role.
Broccoli has also spoken out publicly, declaring that Bond will remain male in future incarnations. The producer instead insisted that new action franchises should be developed for female stars, rather than gender swap an existing one.
While we all wait to hear who will be the next 007, Page will be swapping modern spies for swords and sorcery in the latest attempt to reboot the Dungeons and Dragons franchise.
Previous efforts based on the popular role-playing board game, like the 2000 film with Jeremy Irons, Thora Birch and Marlon Wayans, sank without a trace.
However, this one has an impressive cast that also includes Star Trek and Wonder Woman leading man Chris Pine, and Fast and Furious’ Michelle Rodriguez, with Grant announced as the main villain.
James Bond No Time To Die is in cinemas now.
