The search for Daniel Craig’s successor as James Bond has entered its final and most consequential stage. Deadline reports that Amazon MGM Studios has extended at least four test offers, with insiders naming Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor as three of the actors expected to screen test — beginning as early as Friday, October 23 and running through the following week.
The identity of the fourth tester has not been reported. Speculation has pointed toward Jacob Elordi after months of rumors, though insider Justin Kroll chimed in on social media to rule him out specifically, per SlashFilm. Other outlets have offered partial corroboration: The Hollywood Reporter mentioned only Lowden and Turner, while Variety confirmed the timing and indicated both actors appear to be in the mix.
A methodical hunt
The timeline has been deliberate. Amazon MGM Studios confirmed in May that casting was underway, and casting director Nina Gold was brought in to oversee the search in the spring, followed by roughly two months of meetings before the first round of auditions took place in August, according to Fiction Horizon. The field has since narrowed sharply to the final four.
The tests were originally scheduled for earlier in October. Scheduling conflicts among the finalists pushed them to the end of the month so the group could test within the same window — a detail that underscores how seriously the studio is taking side-by-side comparison at this stage.
No announcement imminent
Deadline was quick to clarify that although the screen tests are in their concluding stages, an actual announcement likely isn’t imminent. The comprehensive hunt is described as a group effort between producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman and director Denis Villeneuve, per SlashFilm.
For a franchise that has fueled betting markets and tabloid shortlists for years, the endgame is finally in sight. Whether the tuxedo goes to Lowden, Turner, O’Connor or the mystery fourth finalist, the next 007 will inherit one of cinema’s most scrutinized roles — and the most deliberately opaque casting process in recent Hollywood memory.
The casting process has been deliberately opaque. Amazon MGM Studios confirmed in May that the search was underway, and the studio has kept its cards close ever since — fueling what Fiction Horizon calls ‘one of the longest-running guessing games in Hollywood,’ complete with betting markets and tabloid shortlists. With Pascal, Heyman and Villeneuve now steering the final tests, the most consequential casting decision in the industry is finally approaching its answer.
