The Next James Bond Will Be in his 30s
Now that Daniel Craig has finished his run as James Bond with 2021’s emotional sendoff No Time To Die, attention has naturally turned to who will become the next 007. This past June, franchise producer Barbara Broccoli said that a new Bond film was at least two years away and that casting was going to take time because they were doing a complete “reinvention of Bond.”
“Nobody’s in the running,” Broccoli said to Deadline at the time. “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.”
Now, at a British Film Institute panel celebrating the 60th anniversary of the deathless spy franchise (h/t Deadline), producer Michael G. Wilson revealed a few very key details about the next Bond. The biggest detail? The new Bond won’t be some young whippersnapper, but, crucially, he won’t be in his 40s, either, which means a lot of the older fan favorites, like Idris Elba, who seemed to take himself out of the running anyway, and Tom Hardy wouldn’t meet the age requirement.
“We’ve tried looking at younger people in the past,” Wilson said during the panel. “But trying to visualize it doesn’t work. 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.”
So you can cross off the younger potential Bonds from your list, too—names like Tom Holland and Jacob Elordi. But, a Bond in his 30s does make it possible for somebody like Henry Cavill or Bridgerton‘s Regé-Jean Page to serve His Majesty’s Secret Service (it’s weird writing that, but it’s our new reality after Queen Elizabeth’s passing).
Not only does the next Bond require a few miles on his speedometer to account for having served with some distinction before the first film for the new character begins, but he needs to be young enough to absorb the decade (at minimum) of playing the character requires. The youngest Bond ever cast was George Lazenby, at 29, while Daniel Craig was 38 for his first rilm, Casino Royale. Roger Moore was the oldest first-time Bond, at a healthy 45 when he first appeared in The Man With the Golden Gone, while the original Bond, Sean Connery, was 32 when he appeared in the first film in the franchise, Dr. No.
If you’re jonesing for some Bond now, good news—you can now stream all 25 Bond films on Prime Video.
For more on all things James Bond, check out these stories:
The Next James Bond Will Likely Arrive in About Two Years
“No Time To Die” Costume Designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb on Building the Apex Tuxedo
“No Time To Die” Costume Designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb on Dressing Bond’s Allies & Adversaries
Featured image: Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in NO TIME TO DIE, an EON Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios film. Credit: Nicola Dove. © 2021 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
