No, Aaron Taylor-Johnson Has Not Been Offered the Role of James Bond…Yet

Once you’re in line to play James Bond, hold in line. No matter tales quite the opposite, Aaron Taylor-Johnson has not been offered the extraordinarily sought-after gig to modify Daniel Craig as 007. As a minimum, not merely however. 

The rumor mill started churning Tuesday after a report from The Photo voltaic claimed that the Bullet Follow actor had been “formally offered” the place of James Bond and that he would “sign a contract this week.” A provide allegedly knowledgeable the British outlet that “Bond is Aaron’s job, must he wish to accept it. The formal provide is on the desk and so they’re able to hearken to once more.”

Nonetheless, according to E! Data, that’s not exactly true. Per E!, a provide with information says that Taylor-Johnson has not been offered the Bond place. Nonetheless whereas there may be in all probability not an official provide on the desk, E! teases that “the possibility may be in entrance of Aaron shortly,” reporting that Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has beforehand steered that the next interval of the Bond franchise is predicted to begin filming ultimately this yr. 

“We’re understanding the place to go along with him,” Broccoli talked about regarding Bond at a private BFI event in 2022. “It’s a reinvention of Bond. We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”

Craig took over the enduring place from Pierce Brosnan with 2006’s On line on line casino Royale. He carried out Bond in 5 films, ending with 2021’s No Time to Die—the equivalent film the place Lashana Lynch made historic previous as the first Black woman to inherit the title of 007, though her character was not technically the model new James Bond. In 2022, Broccoli and her half-brother producing confederate Michael G. Wilson knowledgeable Choice that that they had been inside the “early days” of looking for an actor to modify Craig, any one who could lead on on the franchise for a decade. “As soon as we strong Bond, it’s a 10-, 12-year dedication,” Broccoli talked about on the time. “So he’s most certainly contemplating, ‘Do I really need that issue?’ Not everybody wishes to do this.”

It seems to be like Taylor-Johnson could. In an interview for Self-esteem Truthful’s 2023 Hollywood Problem, Johnson addressed the Bond rumors head-on, calling them “flattering” whereas tempering expectations. “You might have one factor truly optimistic [written about you], nonetheless you may too have one factor truly unfavourable which will circulate into,” he talked about. “You merely have to hold in your lane, hold grounded, hold throughout the oldsters that you just love and love you once more, and hold in that world. On account of the second you start believing the shit people say about you, you’ve misplaced your fucking ideas. You’ve misplaced it.”

The dearth of concrete data regarding Bond’s subsequent interval could also be good news for a few completely different Bond hopefuls. Within the equivalent Self-esteem Truthful Hollywood Problem, Bridgerton breakout Regé-Jean Internet web page moreover known as rumors that he too was being considered to play Bond “flattering,” nonetheless, like Taylor-Johnson, talked about that he prefers to provide consideration to the present. “It’s not an element that is completely occupying my concepts,” he talked about. “I’ve purchased enough on my plate in the meanwhile. I worry in regards to the work I’ve, not completely different people’s jobs.”

Others have been a lot much less cryptic about their wish to step into the suave footwear of 007, or lack thereof. The White Lotus star Theo James knowledgeable The Guardian this month that the considered having fun with James Bond is “terrifying” and talked about that he believes “there are greater people for that job.” 

“Once you do that, there’s no going once more,” he continued. “You’re opening Pandora’s discipline there. You have to be eager to remain a very completely completely different life and have a particular life in your family members. And that is likely to be pretty tough.”

Former Superman and Argyle star Henry Cavill has moreover come up in cultural dialog about attainable Bonds, as has present Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy. After which there’s perennial Bond suggestion Idris Elba. In 2022, Broccoli knowledgeable Choice that she hadn’t spoken with Elba in regards to the Bond various for some time, nonetheless that she thinks Elba is “good.” “We love Idris,” she added. For his half, Elba has since shot down rumors that he’s inside the half, telling the Wall Avenue Journal that he doesn’t see Bond “when he seems to be like inside the mirror.” Possibly he must put cash right into a model new mirror.