We just aren’t allowed to know who it is… yet! Somebody close to the production has let it slip. A new James Bond has been chosen.
A few weeks ago, Richard Osman, the host of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast dropped a clanger when he said he had heard it was a done deal for a certain actor. He then tried to walk back his comments.
A couple of days ago we reported that the final screen tests were underway, and that deals had been inked ahead of a final decision.
It looks like that news might have been a few weeks old, as almost immediately after that story dropped, acting legend Gary Oldman seemed to blurt out that he had been told it was already a done deal.
Appearing on Canada’s The Morning Show, Oldman talked up his Slow Horses co-star Jack Lowden as the next potential 007, and added that he had heard that the decision had already been made:
“It’s been rumored that [Lowden] is on the shortlist. We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we? Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack.”
The real bombshell dropped just yesterday when the writer of the new Bond movie, Peaky Blinders and SAS Rogue Heroes creator Steven Knight, was out promoting another project.
Talking about his Oasis documentary Don’t Look Back in Anger, the interview inevitably turned to Bond,
Host Anna Foster mentioned Gary Oldman’s recent comments that a new Bond had been cast and tried to get Knight to give more details. He responded:
“I cannot speak about this subject. Much as I would dearly love to.”
Foster then probed again, asking if he had written the script with the chosen actor in mind, or simply stuck closer to the character as written by Fleming. Here he intriguingly answered:
“It’s a bit of both. It does make life a little bit easier if you know who that person is, but also you have to write the character, not the actor.”
Then, when the host kept probing, Knight laughed and said
“I refer you to my previous answer.”
So it does seem that Knight knew who the actor was at least for some of the writing process, and maybe is even in the process of polishing his script to tailor it to the new actor.
The Slow Horses star, Lowden, has become the bookies favorite this week, as odds have narrowed around him considerably.
Global James Bond Day falls on Monday, 5th October 2026. The date is fixed, anchored to the 1962 premiere of Dr. No. An announcement may be expected on that day.
There is still a possibility that a name arrives completely out of left field who wasn’t on any of the lists.
