For all the hype and casting rumors behind Bond 26, I’m relieved to report that, according to Deadline, Denis Villeneuve is searching for a “fresh face” when he chooses the next 007. Deadline says the search for a new Bond begins next year, after Villeneuve completes production on Dune: Part Three. In addition to confirming plans to find an unknown actor to play James Bond, we now know the character will be male, as written by creator Ian Fleming.
They also want Bond to be British, which rules out potential castings from the UK, such as Timothée Chalamet, Glen Powell, Austin Butler, Jacob Elordi, and others. Furthermore, Deadline says the production is looking for a Bond in his late 20s or early 30s to play what Fleming called “a blunt instrument” – the lethal but “extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened.”
If that’s what they’re going for, this rules out actors like Tom Hardy, aged 47, Idris Elba, 53, Henry Cavill, 42, and whoever else is aged out of the ideal look and feel for the character. Oh, and forget about Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jack Lowden. If Bond 26 begins filming in 2027, those guys will be 37 years old, which could be too old for what Villeneuve has in mind.
It sounds like Bond will return to his earlier days for Bond 26. While it’s not a hard reset, it gives Villeneuve room to play and reset the field. It remains to be seen how experienced Bond will be in the next chapter of his enduring saga, and what audience that new Bond will skew for. While Daniel Craig’s Bond brought in a more mature crowd, a younger Bond could have the opposite effect.
It’s worth noting that Bond will appear younger in the upcoming video game 007: First Light from IO Interactive. The game will depict Bond’s origin story as he embarks on a mission he must complete to get his license to kill.
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