After years and years (and years) of delays, Daniel Craig's fifth and final Bond outing No Time to Die finally arrived in cinemas in September 2021, to decent box office ($774 million) and warm critical acclaim (83% on Rotten Tomatoes).
Ever since that movie brought an end to Craig's run in the role, all eyes have been on who will be next to take up the 007 mantle.
This week, while at an event to celebrate their BFI Fellowships, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson provided something of an update on the 26th entry in the franchise.
Speaking to Deadline, Broccoli said:
“Nobody’s in the running. We’re working out where to go with him, we’re talking that through.
"There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film because, really, 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."
At the same event, Ralph Fiennes - who has played M in the last three Craig movies - joked that "Naomie [Harris, who plays Moneypenny] and I are the people to fix it. You find him and we’ll train him."
There have been strong rumours suggesting that the next Bond movie might go back to something smaller in scope, especially as No Time to Die's production budget had reportedly ballooned to over $300 million, which doesn't include anything spent on promotion and publicity.
Additionally, there have been whispers that the Bond franchise might be brought back to the 1960s, in line with the idea that Quentin Tarantino had floated during the Pierce Brosnan era.
Whether any of that pans out, or if Bond is maintained as a modern-day behemoth action series, the next favourites to take on the title role include Bridgerton star Rege-Jean Page, Superman himself Henry Cavill, and Ireland's own Aidan Turner.
As Broccoli has mentioned filming probably won't start until at least 2024, we likely won't see Bond 26 until, appropriately, 2026. So, they've got some time to figure all of this out.
In the meantime, check out our interview with Ben Whishaw, who talks about coming back to the role of Q after the events of No Time to Die:
