It’s been over a year since Daniel Craig exploded out of the James Bond film franchise and speculation of who could take up the Licence to Kill next continues to be rife. Producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson have made it clear that production on Bond 26 is at least two years away and that they’re looking for a male actor to reboot the franchise. Huge stars like Henry Cavill and Tom Hardy dominate the bookies’ odds, but they could be facing a challenge from another contender who has appeared out of the blue.
According to William Hill, Aaron Taylor-Johnson has entered the race with odds of 10-1 of replacing Craig as Bond. The 32-year-old rose to fame in comic book movies Kick-Ass and Avengers: Age of Ultron. And he most recently co-starred with Brad Pitt in the action comedy Bullet Train. The actor, who has played John Lennon and auditioned to portray Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic, is married to 55-year-old director Sam Taylor-Johnson.
His sudden appearance in the race comes in the wake of an alleged new report that he massively impressed producers at a 007 screen test.
Taylor-Johnson is on 10-1 with Michael Fassbender and just ahead of them is Richard Madden on 9-1. Dan Stevens and Jack Lowden are on 8-1, Chiwetel Ejiofor is on 7-1 and both Tom Hardy and James Norton are on 6-1. In second place is Regé-Jean Page on 4-1 and the frontrunner remains Superman star Henry Cavill on 5-6.
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