MGM executive Pamela Abdy has revealed that the James Bond team have had “very early” conversations about who’ll become the next 007.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Abdy – who works for Bond production company MGM – said that discussions over Daniel Craig’s replacement have already begun.
“It’s wide open,” she said. “We’ve had very early preliminary conversations with Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [Wilson], but we wanted Daniel to have his last hurrah.”
Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, who runs Eon Productions, said back in September that casting talks for the next film wouldn’t begin until 2022, telling BBC Radio 4: “We want Daniel to have his time of celebration. Next year we’ll start thinking about the future.”
Craig, who starred as James Bond for 15 years, made his last appearance as the spy in No Time to Die, the 25th film in the 007 franchise.
The Knives Out star became the sixth actor to portray Ian Fleming’s seminal character when he made his Bond debut in 2006’s Casino Royale.
Now that Craig has officially retired as Bond, speculation as to who’ll take on the role next is rife among fans, who’ve tipped the likes of Venom‘s Tom Hardy, Bridgerton star Regé-Jean Page, The Suicide Squad‘s Idris Elba and Eternals‘ Richard Madden to be the next 007.
Last year, RadioTimes.com readers voted Sam Heughan as their top choice as Bond, with the Outlander star revealing that he’d tried out for the role back in 2005 and “would be delighted” if asked to audition again.
If you’ve already seen No Time To Die, you might want to check out our James Bond ending explainer – but beware of spoilers if not!