UPDATE 9/8: Gary Oldman says Bond has already been picked but not announced, and writer Steven Knight refused to deny it, saying only that he cannot speak about the subject.
UPDATE 9/4: Puck News’ Matt Belloni reports test deals are going out to Bond contenders, that the lists circulating online are “bogus,” and that screen tests won’t happen until later this fall — not early September. Full story on Belloni’s report.
The James Bond shortlist finally has a name nobody saw coming, and that may be exactly the point.
Page Six reports that after director Denis Villeneuve and casting director Nina Gold combed the UK for unknowns, one actor came out on top: Jack Barton, whose biggest film credit to date is a part in Poor Things.
Barton’s résumé beyond that is short and mostly British TV: Steven Knight’s SAS: Rogue Heroes and Netflix’s Heartstopper. Knight, as it happens, is the screenwriter on Bond.
Per Page Six’s insiders, Barton is currently the one to beat. He is also, per the same report, about to face a very different kind of competition.
Lowden, Elordi, Mescal, Turner And Dickinson Test In September
Page Six says Amazon’s screen tests for a group of established leading men are scheduled to begin in early September.
The names on that list, according to the report, are ones we’ve heard before: Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal, and Harris Dickinson.
Deadline reported in June that Villeneuve was personally calling actors to set up the next round of tests for August. If Page Six is right, that round has now been pushed to September.
Amy Pascal, meanwhile, has said a casting announcement by the end of the year is “a good bet”, which still leaves room, but not a lot of it.
Turner, Elordi and Dickinson have also been described as fitting Villeneuve’s “prototype” for months. And Lowden, who Richard Osman said in August was being “strongly considered”, now has a reported screen test attached to his name.
Lowden’s wife, Saoirse Ronan, told Empire this week she is “dead serious” about playing a Bond villain. If both land their pitches, Amazon would be casting a married couple on opposite sides of the gun.
Amazon declined to comment to Page Six and pointed back to its May statement that the search is underway and it will not discuss specifics.
