James Bond fans are going to have to wait a little longer to see the next instalment as production is set to take a ‘long break’.
It’s been an excruciating trickle of updates since Daniel Craig handed in his license to kill upon the release of No Time to Die in September 2021.
Speculation over who is set to be the next 007 has been kicked into overdrive as names continue to be whispered in industry circles.
While Callum Turner, 36, and Harris Dickinson, 29, remain frontrunners, there is also a rumour that we could land the youngest ever Bond in 22-year-old Louis Partridge.
Age could become a deciding factor as an insider has now revealed we’ll be waiting until at least 2028 for the film – a historic seven-year gap.
‘Bond won’t be back until 2028,’ a source told The Sun. ‘The production mindset’s gone from “Let’s hurry this through” to “Make sure we get this right”.’
Fans will be relieved to hear that new creative owners Amazon MGM Studios want to take things slow rather than churn out spin-offs and sequels galore.
Part of this delay comes from the involvement of Dune director Denis Villeneuve and his previous commitments.
‘Denis wanted a long break after Dune 3 and has some broad ideas on the script. Steven will get on with drafts, before they map out the final version. That’ll take at least the whole summer,’ the source shared.
The insider added: ‘Realistically, if they can make January 2027 work for pre-production, then that will be a success.’
President of the 007GB fan club, Mark Wooldridge, told Metro it isn’t ‘unusual’ for such a lengthy timeline.
‘The suggestion that the next Bond film may not arrive until 2028, that broadly aligns with the typical timelines involved in a production of this scale,’ he shared.
Mark noted the involvement of Denis made it clear this was not going to be a quick turnaround project, especially with Dune 3 not expected in cinemas until December 18, 2026.
Pre-production can take anywhere from three to seven months, or even over three years if you’re Peter Jackson working on The Lord of the Rings.
This is where they hunt for locations, hire crew, lay out the filming plan, and crucially, casting begins – although with something as big as Bond, they’re likely to have already got someone locked in before this point.
After this, you’ve got several months of filming and then almost a year of post-production, which means editing together, adding in any vfx and all-important colour grading.
It’s no surprise that if we don’t even have a script ready to go, Bond’s refresh could still be a long way off.
James Bond odds
Callum Turner — 4/5
Harris Dickinson — 7/4
Jacob Elordi — 5/1
Aaron Taylor-Johnson — 6/1
Theo James — 10/1
Henry Cavill— 16/1
Jack O’Connell – 16/1
James Nelson-Joyce – 16/1
(Provided by Ladbrookes)
Favourites for the role have remained steady for a while now, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson first mentioned over three years ago.
Mark shared: ‘Much of [the frontrunner conversation] tends to be media and fan-driven speculation rather than anything formally grounded. If the intention is indeed to introduce a “fresh face”, as has been suggested in various reports, that could naturally place less emphasis on actors who are already widely associated with the role in the public discourse.’
However, he pointed out that age alone has ‘never been a defining factor in Bond casting’, with Roger Moore in his mid-40s when he first took on the role in Live And Let Die.
‘Pierce Brosnan was in his early 40s when he debuted in GoldenEye,’ he said. ‘Both went on to define the character for their respective generations.
‘So while there is often discussion about looking younger, history shows that what ultimately matters is finding the right actor who can carry the role over multiple films.’
Coventry University’s assistant professor for media and film production, Iain Bruce, agreed with this and thinks we should be paying attention to frontrunners’ announced films, not age.
‘Delays to the next Bond film will undoubtedly leave fans of the franchise stirred, but hopefully not too shaken,’ he joked to Metro. ‘The reported delay to filming shouldn’t affect any of the main frontrunners ability to fit the conventional playing age of Bond.
‘Both Callum Turner and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are both in their mid thirties now, so even if production on the next Bond does get pushed back to 2028 both actors would still be the prime age to don Bond’s tuxedo.’
Daniel Craig was 38 when he first appeared in Casino Royale, but the youngest ever 007 was George Lazenby. He was only 29 at the time of shooting 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
He added: ‘The only issue which might affect the casting of Bond is the actor’s contractual arrangements; if either has already signed on to begin filming other productions in 2027/2028 then that might prove legally tricky, juggling scheduling.
‘Looking at both frontrunners announced projects, though, Turner has no announced projects which appear to be filming in 2027/2028, and Taylor-Johnson only has Netflix’s Enigma Variations on the horizon, but this has no publicly reported production timeline so he’ll hopefully be free (if he is, indeed, Amazon’s 007).’
The fan club aren’t getting swept up in the rumours though, with Mark advising: ‘Until there is official confirmation from the studios involved, any names being mentioned should be treated as speculation rather than indication.’
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