Since 1962, every new Bond has initially seemed slightly wrong. And yet, sooner or later, each has come to define the era that produced him.
Every new Bond has initially seemed slightly wrong
Credit: Collection Christophel
This week, Amazon MGM Studios fired the starting gun on the race to find the next 007:
The announcement, made on May 14th, arrives alongside confirmation that Denis Villeneuve — director of Dune — will helm the next Bond film, with Amy Pascal and David Heyman producing.
Announcement (May 14th, 2026)
Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
And now, naturally, the bookmakers have entered the chat.
At the time of writing, Callum Turner sits atop the betting markets as favourite to become the next 007, with odds hovering around evens. Close behind are Harris Dickinson and Jacob Elordi — each representing a subtly different interpretation of Bond for a new era.
Let's take a closer look at the front runners:
CALLUM TURNER
Callum Turner rehearses the role at Lido di Venezia, Italy, (August 30, 2025)
Credit: Martina Del Piano
The current bookmakers’ favourite possesses the sort of easy physicality casting directors tend to admire. Tall, angular, understatedly elegant, Turner carries something of the old-school leading man without appearing overly polished. His performances in Masters of the Air and Fantastic Beasts suggest a restrained intensity — useful qualities in an actor expected to alternate between Savile Row composure and calibrated violence.
HARRIS DICKINSON
Harris Dickinson current odds hovering around 3/1 to 8/1
Credit: Fred Duval
Dickinson feels, perhaps, the most quintessentially British option of the current crop. There is a trace of working-class steel beneath the tailoring — something reminiscent of the younger Connery. His recent performances have demonstrated both vulnerability and menace, and Bond has always required precisely that balance: charm with the faint suggestion of danger lurking underneath.
JACOB ELORDI
High expectation or tall order? Jacob Elordi measures 6'5"
Credit: Andrea Raffin
The outsider in more ways than one. Australian by birth, towering in stature, and possessing the kind of modern cinematic presence studios increasingly favour, Elordi represents the possibility that Bond may once again evolve beyond traditional expectations. One suspects the purists would object initially — which, historically speaking, may actually improve his chances.
TOMORROW NEVER DIES
Every generation believes it knows exactly who Bond should be. Every generation is usually wrong.
Sean Connery modelling clothes for Vince Man's Shop (1957)
Credit: RGR Collection
When Sean Connery was announced in 1961, he was hardly viewed as an obvious choice. A former milkman and coffin polisher from Edinburgh, Connery lacked the upper-class refinement many imagined for Ian Fleming’s spy. Even Fleming himself reportedly had doubts.
And yet, the moment Connery first appeared in his Anthony Sinclair midnight blue dinner suit, cinematic history quietly rearranged itself.
Other supposedly “surprising” choices followed.
GEORGE LAZENBY
George Lazenby, before Bond
Credit Kronenbourg
A model with virtually no acting experience whatsoever. Ridiculed at the time, later reassessed by many as one of the most emotionally convincing Bonds.
ROGER MOORE
Roger Moore in 1971 while filming The Persuaders TV series
Credit: Pictorial Press
Too suave. Too humorous. Too associated with television, critics said. He would ultimately become the longest-serving Bond of the original era.
DANIEL CRAIG
The blonde Bond
Credit: RGR Collection
Perhaps the greatest public backlash of all. Blonde. Rugged. “Not Bond,” declared the press in 2005. Within eighteen months, Casino Royale had rewritten the franchise entirely.
The lesson, as ever, is simple: nobody truly knows until the gun barrel appears on screen.
The challenge facing Amazon MGM is not merely casting an actor. It is deciding what Bond means in 2026.
Should he return to the cold professionalism of Connery?
The charismatic elegance of Roger Moore?
The wounded brutality of Daniel Craig?
Or does Bond now require reinvention altogether?
Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli, Sean Connery, Ian Fleming and Harry Saltzman defining 007
Credit: TCD/Prod.DB
Whatever direction the producers choose, one suspects certain constants will remain. Bond must still wear tailoring properly. He must still enter a room with authority. And he must still convince audiences that danger and sophistication can coexist in the same silhouette.
In other words: the suit still matters.
Sean Connery: Authority, Danger, Sophistication, Fine Tailoring.
Credit: Universal Images Group North America LLC
For more than sixty years, Bond has never simply been cast for the role. He has been tailored.