Highlights
- Bond 26 auditions have moved into a new round this August, with producer Amy Pascal saying a decision on the next 007 "could be a good bet" by year's end.
- Callum Turner and Jacob Elordi remain the names most often linked to the role — but Riz Ahmed's name keeps resurfacing, and not just as fan-casting.
- Tom Holland is out (his Marvel contract won't allow it) and Taron Egerton has ruled himself out, narrowing the field further.
For five years, "who's the next James Bond?" has been a question with no real answer — just a rotating cast of rumours, denials and bookmakers' odds. That's about to change. Deadline reported this month that director Denis Villeneuve has personally been calling actors to confirm they've made the next round of auditions, and producer Amy Pascal has now put a timeline on it publicly for the first time: "the end of the year is a good bet."
So who's actually left standing? The answer is more interesting than the betting markets suggest.
Who's confirmed to be out of the running?
Two names have already ruled themselves out. Tom Holland can't take the role even if offered it, because his ongoing Marvel contract makes him unavailable. Taron Egerton has removed himself from consideration entirely, leaving one fewer name on an already-thinning list.
That matters because it clears the ground for whoever the production actually wants — and the creative team behind Bond 26 has been unusually deliberate. Villeneuve is directing, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is writing the script, and by most trade reporting, casting is being led by Nina Gold, though Amazon MGM has not confirmed her role publicly.
Who's actually favourite right now?
Callum Turner has spent the longest stretch as bookmakers' favourite, with Jacob Elordi — fresh off Frankenstein — closing the gap as the more recent "Hollywood leading man" pick. Both fit the traditional Bond mould the production has publicly said it wants to preserve: young, British, and male, with Pascal explicitly ruling out a gender-swapped Bond.
Callum TurnerGetty Images
But neither of them is the name generating the most conversation this year.
Why does Riz Ahmed's name keep coming up?
Riz Ahmed — the British Pakistani Oscar and Emmy winner — has publicly and repeatedly made his case to be considered. On The Tonight Show, he joked about the height requirements traditionally associated with the role before turning serious: "traditionally, actors playing James Bond have not looked like me." He's since been named directly alongside Turner and Elordi in trade-rumour coverage, not just fan-cast lists.
Riz AhmedGetty Images
The timing has added fuel to it. Ahmed currently stars in Bait, an Amazon Prime comedy he co-created, playing a struggling British Pakistani actor whose life unravels after word gets out he's in contention to play 007. The show premiered at Sundance and released in March 2026 — months before Ahmed's real-world Bond campaign became a genuine talking point, making the fictional version look eerily prescient.
| Contender | Status | Key detail |
|---|---|---|
| Callum Turner | Long-time bookmakers' favourite | Fits the "young British lead" mould the production has confirmed it wants |
| Jacob Elordi | Rising favourite | Momentum from Frankenstein; also fits traditional mould |
| Riz Ahmed | Publicly campaigning, named in trade rumours | Would be the first actor of colour to play 007 |
| Tom Holland | Ruled out | Marvel contract conflict |
| Taron Egerton | Ruled himself out | Withdrew from consideration |
Would casting Ahmed actually be a first for Bond?
Yes — no actor of colour has played the title role in the franchise's 63-year history, despite past speculation around names like Idris Elba, Dev Patel and Regé-Jean Page. None of those conversations reached the stage this one has: a named contender in real trade reporting, at the exact moment the production says a decision is imminent.
Jacob ElordiGetty Images
There's a sharper edge to it than most casting stories carry. Ahmed has spent years being mixed up with other South Asian actors in his own industry — a Burberry account once tagged a red-carpet photo of him as Dev Patel, a mistake he's since turned into a running joke on late-night TV. Bait pushes that same tension to its extreme, imagining a struggling actor who finally lands the audition of a lifetime only to discover the industry still isn't sure it can see him as the lead rather than the type. Ahmed wrote and released that story months before his own name started appearing in the real casting rumours — and now the fiction and the audition list are starting to look uncomfortably close together.
Turner and Elordi remain the safer bets, by every account still circulating. But for the first time in the franchise's history, "safer" and "only" aren't the same word — and that alone is why this particular casting search has an audience well beyond the usual Bond faithful.
