Move over Henry Cavill and Tom Hardy, a new favourite has now become the forerunner in the race to be the next 007 with UK bookies Coral revealing that indie film star Aaron Taylor-Johnson has made a landmark breakthrough as the potential next bond.
The 32-year-old actor from High Wycombe, who is known for a wide range of film genres spanning from action to dark comedy, has mainly starred in arthouse movies such as Anna Karenina but he has also made appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he played Quicksilver in The Age of Ultron.
He also starred alongside Brad Pitt in last year's high-profile blockbuster Bullet Train.
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Coral spokesman John Hill told Express Online: "Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the name everybody is backing to replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond. He is now odds-on for that role for the first time since opened betting on this market several years ago."
The bookies have Taylor-Johnson at 4-5 odds. Next in line is Happy Valley star James Norton on 3-1. Cavill has slipped back to 7-2, while Hardy is languishing behind on 5-1.
Some of the other strong contenders include odds of 4-1 for Bridgerton's Rege-Jean Page, original favourite at 6-1, 13-2 for Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12-1 for Aidan Turner and 12-1 for Jamie Dornan.
Who will be the next Bond though? Well last year James Bond lead producer Barbara Broccoli, whose family has produced all Bond films since Dr No in 1962, revealed that the character of James Bond is currently going through a “reinvention”, adding that it takes time to do so.
As for who might be taking over the role for the next Bond flick, Broccoli said, “Nobody's in the running."
"We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time. There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”
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