To use a relevant example in casting - Steven Moffat wanted a much older Doctor for the 11th Doctor, then Matt Smith who was much younger than any of his predecessors came in and was cast. Peter Capaldi on the other hand, with the exact same people, was offered it straight up with auditions only happening in case something didnt work out (think a Brosnan in TLD situation as Capaldi was filming Musketeers at the time)
5 Likes
Absolutely. Sure they’re keeping options open to a certain extent, and equally I expect Jacob Elordi and Callum Turner will be on the wider list, but whether that’s the direction they go in, let’s see.
Having read up a bit on Nina Gold, I feel reassured; her casting CV is extremely impressive.
5 Likes
I actually still nurse hopes they may come up with an entirely unexpected and surprising name, the way Craig popped up. Someone less mentioned by bookies and trade papers.
8 Likes
Line reading and looks can only get you so far. Especially with Bond the role is about energy. There has to be a sense of natural charisma and danger about the man that separates him from others. If that hint of magic isn’t there they shouldn’t settle.
I have hope that if that feeling is elicited by whoever walks into the room it will be noticed and marked in the special category. It’s possible any favoured names right now don’t have that quality when screen test cameras start rolling, and some Lazenby type does.
6 Likes
would suggest they intend on filming in the UK as that’s been the most common feature of her work - production base in the UK (yes, including Star Wars)
4 Likes
Game on then!
This does, even as a non-announcement per se, mean a couple of things.
They have the contenders lined up. Five, six maybe ten.
As to tests and readings, will they go with the old Eon “gold standard” of the FRWL Tania scene & OHMSS fight & Tracy bit or something one off as they did with Brolin’s test?
Also, there must be a first draft in some respects. Craig’s final test was the meeting with Vesper although set in a hotel room rather than the train.
Who knows, but to my mind and just a bit of familiarity with the process, it seems likely.
NDA’s will be all over the place until the official announcement is made. Then everyone who didn’t make the cut will start talking.
A little research on the popular one’s schedule might narrow down who has nothing on their books for 2027 and might give a notion.
Lastly though, Pre-production has now certainly begun.
Onward! 
14 Likes
James Bond is alive. Forward!
5 Likes
Very true. Probably the closest thing to a sure bet we’ve ever had for the casting of James Bond was Pierce Brosnan’s hiring in 1995, but even that wasn’t a certainty after the 1987 race. You could even make a case and say Brosnan in 1987 was closer to a sure bet, but that fell through at the brink of the midnight hour.
This casting news is good and welcome despite it being unsurprising. Ultimately, it just means we’re getting that much closer for the selection of our seventh James Bond 007. As for me, I am still solidly holding out hope for Henry Cavill to be cast–although admittedly due to reports, he would seem to be a bit of a long shot at this point. If not him, my second choice is Callum Turner. I think he is clearly the best of the rest of the lot. He’s a solid actor and is in the right age range they reportedly are looking for. I’m hoping the choice is either one of those two.
3 Likes
The dead are alive.
6 Likes
It’s easy to forget now, but other actors were tested for GoldenEye, with James Purefoy making the strongest impression. While having an in with Cubby helped Brosnan, did have to go through the whole process again.
2 Likes
The leaked Casino Royale tests used the casino scene from GoldenEye. I think that scene made for an ideal screentest; it was written to establish a new Bond, and so it hit a lot of the beats you’d want to see the actor hit.
4 Likes
I know other actors were tested, but most people were pretty sure Pierce Brosnan was going to get it and that it was his role to lose. (And it doesn’t hurt testing other candidates to get some possible ideas for the future–Bond or non-Bond roles.) Still, when it comes to predictions/gambling you can never be 100% certain how it’s going to come out. See the underdog USA Hockey team vs. the gold medal favorite Soviet Union in the semifinal game at the 1980 Winter Olympics. A bunch of college kids defeated a professional Russian team that had just beaten them 10-0 a couple of weeks prior and had routed several NHL teams in exhibitions a few weeks earlier as well.
Of course, the most out of nowhere James Bond selection was George Lazenby. Obviously, the producers searched far and wide for that one, but upon looking at the final candidates, they made the right choice with Lazenby. He clearly was the best of the lot. (There may have been better actors for the role than Lazenby, but, at the time, they didn’t apply for 007 as they didn’t want to follow in Sean Connery’s considerably large shoes.)
4 Likes
It even just appeared on the serious Dutch NOS News broadcast:
the announcement that a successor to Daniel Craig was now being seriously sought.
4 Likes
X is pushing for Henry Cavill…has anyone actually seen him act? He’s always just…there.
Regardless of what style or tone the other six went for in their respective films, they did still act.
7 Likes
Who do I want? Somebody completely unknown. None of the flavour of the month actors that nave been mooted fill me with any urgency to go out to the cinema to see the next installment.
5 Likes
Den of Geek with another piece running from the just possible to the weirdly improbable…
3 Likes
Oozing anything sounds infectious.
3 Likes
Think I’ve read that two or three times in the past few months. Was it included here to keep Matt Smith from the weirdly improbable spot? Would anybody at Amazon really consider a one-off - old! OLD! - Bond when all the pressure is on staging a fantastically successful brand relaunch with a sure fire perspective on at least three more sequels?
If we look at it realistically any Old Man Bond - with Brosnan or any other actor - is not just out of the question from a corporate point of view (Amazon just spent billions on a franchise that needs to generate revenue soonish), it’s also a concept with a very limited appeal for a broader audience. How many retired/former spies/operators/killers populate the genre already? How successful are these productions outside their niche?
Even with Brosnan, how popular would such a one-off Bond be outside the core fanbase? There is a reason such concepts usually work in a limited streaming environment, or at best as EXPENDABLES-RED ensemble vehicles. I could totally see Amazon milking the concept in a limited streaming series. Once their main attraction is ticking over nicely while the millions roll back in.
4 Likes