James Bond already has a top 007 choice: Gary Oldman says it’s been decided

Actor Gary Oldman says the James Bond franchise has already settled on the person it wants to replace Daniel Craig as Agent 007, even if it still hasn’t made that public, and he’s hoping that person is Jack Lowden.

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We’ve never had to wait this long for a new James Bond. Ever since Sean Connery, the role has usually changed hands without too much delay, but after Daniel Craig’s sudden exit, the whole thing started to feel strangely directionless.

Even Amazon MGM Studios, which now has control of the franchise, didn’t seem fully sure who should be the next Agent 007. Maybe that’s changed.

My name is Man. Old Man

The person who may have let slip more than he meant to wasn’t Denis Villeneuve, the new director of the James Bond franchise, or Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. It was Gary Oldman, which honestly wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card. Not because the 68-year-old actor is about to suit up as the new Bond, of course, but because he says he knows something the rest of us don’t: “There have been rumors that Jack Lowden is on the list. We’ll know very soon, won’t we? Because they’ve chosen. They’ve chosen their top choice, but they haven’t announced it yet. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Jack.”

That makes a certain amount of sense. Jack Lowden has been acting opposite Gary Oldman on Apple TV+’s Slow Horses since 2022, and they’ve already done 6 seasons together, so of course Oldman would be pulling for his co-star. Lowden is also the name that’s come up most often in the rumor mill, on a list that has also included Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Harris Dickinson. At this stage, I could see any one of them working. Now they just need to make it official.

Earlier this year, Saoirse Ronan, Jack Lowden’s wife, had already said she’d love to show up in the next 007 movie as a young villain. “It would be really interesting, especially for women and girls, to see someone who can take all that rage and channel it somewhere else.” And honestly, imagine the free publicity if Saoirse Ronan ended up playing her husband’s nemesis too. Come on, Amazon. You’ve basically got this one lined up.