Gary Oldman claims new James Bond has already been selected
Gary Oldman has said he doesn't know who the new James Bond is, but he's pretty sure the casting decision has been made and they're just waiting to announce it.
There's been a huge amount of speculation about the identity of the next 007 to succeed Daniel Craig in the role but until an official announcement is made we're all in the dark.
Craig's Bond got blasted to bits at the end of the 2021 movie No Time To Die to make it quite clear he was definitely not coming back, though audiences were reassured that even if Craig wasn't playing him James Bond would return.
It's been a long wait for Bond fans since then, as it's been almost five years since the last film released and given production times once a new Bond has been announced it could be a lot longer before people go into cinemas to see the world's most famous secret agent.
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Slow Horses star Gary Oldman told Global he's sure the decision has already been made on the next Bond and he's hoping it's his co-star Jack Lowden.
"It’s been rumoured that he’s on the shortlist. We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we?" Oldman said when asked about the speculation swirling around Lowden.
"Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack."
Oldman is not saying that Lowden, who plays spy River Cartwright in the Apple TV show Slow Horses, has been cast as the next 007, only that he thinks an announcement will be soon and the big choice has already been made.
It would be good fun for Slow Horses fans to see Lowden, whose spy in the show good at some parts of the job and pretty terrible at others, to step into the shoes of the best in the business.
Just as long as it doesn't interfere with the show's production schedule, as it's one of the few things on TV that actually releases new episodes each year.
A huge number of names have been linked with the role in the years since No Time To Die was released, with Amazon gaining control of the franchise last year being another development to contend with.
Several of the mooted names have ruled themselves out of the running, with the likes of Theo James saying it wasn't going to be him as the 41-year-old now thinks he's 'definitely too old' for it.
The next Bond film is set to be directed by Denis Villeneuve with a script from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, and it needs a leading man for everything to slot into place.
36-year-old Lowden's name has been mentioned more often in recent months, while Callum Turner keeps cropping up in discussions too.
For a long time the most-mentioned name was Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but without an official confirmation of anything there is no certainty about the new 007.
If Oldman is correct and a choice has been made then it's being kept under wraps until Amazon MGM Studios decide to make their big announcement.
Film fans will be hoping he's right and it's coming soon, because before long it'll be five years since the last Bond movie and there'll be an even longer wait while they get around to making the new one.
The longest wait 007 fans have had between movies was between the 1989 movie Licence to Kill, Timothy Dalton's last as Bond, and Pierce Brosnan's first outing as the spy in the 1995 movie GoldenEye.
Six years and five months is the longest wait we've had, if we don't get a new James Bond soon that could be beaten.
LADbible have contacted Amazon for comment.
Topics: James Bond, Film
Joe Harker