Oldman told THR the studio has already made its choice but hasn't announced it, with Denis Villeneuve's film due to shoot next year.
Gary Oldman thinks 007 has already found his man. He just isn't allowed to say who.
The actor, currently doing press for Slow Horses, told THR that the next James Bond has been cast and that Amazon MGM is simply sitting on the news. "It's been rumored that [Lowden] is on the shortlist... We're going to find out pretty soon, aren't we?" Oldman said, according to the outlet. "Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack."
That's Jack Lowden he's talking about, his co-star on the Apple TV+ spy series and, per JoBlo, one of a handful of names that keep surfacing as frontrunners for the role. Oldman is careful to frame it as a guess, not inside information. He says he doesn't actually know the decision, only that one's been made.
Worth remembering here: nobody at Amazon or MGM has confirmed a thing. This is one actor's read on studio silence, not a casting announcement, and Times of India's report on Oldman's comments is careful to note the same, that "several actors were reportedly considered" without naming a winner.
So why the quiet? JoBlo's theory, and it's a reasonable one, is timing. Denis Villeneuve is about to head into a press tour for Dune: Part Three, and dropping a Bond reveal beforehand would mean every question on that tour turns into a Bond question. Steven Knight is writing the script for the new film, Villeneuve directs, and shooting is expected to start sometime next year. An announcement squeezed in around Christmas, after the Dune tour wraps and before the year turns, would dodge that problem entirely. That's speculation too, but it lines up.
The case for Lowden, and who else is in the mix
At 36, Lowden sits close to where Daniel Craig was when Casino Royale happened. He's recognisable without being a face on every billboard, which is roughly the profile that worked for Pierce Brosnan and for Craig himself. Going with a total unknown has paid off exactly once, with Sean Connery in 1962, and backfired badly the one time they tried it again, with George Lazenby.
The internet's other favourite name is Jacob Elordi, and JoBlo raises the obvious question there, whether an actor his age wants a franchise that could define the rest of his career before it's really started. Jack O'Connell gets a mention too, floated as someone with the edge to make the part feel different.
None of it is confirmed. All of it is guesswork wearing a confident voice, including Oldman's. But if his instinct is right, the wait might not stretch far past New Year's Eve.
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