The rumor mill for who will become the next face of the James Bond movies has been in overdrive for some time. With the reign of Daniel Craig’s interpretation ending on the big screen, everyone wants to know who the next actor will be to slip on a tuxedo to save the world for king and country. However, a new wild rumor could break the whole mill down and soon, as an outlet has claimed that a new 007 has actually been decided on.
Aaron Taylor Johnson Is Allegedly The Next James Bond
Break out your salt shakers Bond Blend, as Aaron Taylor Johnson has allegedly been cast as the 007’th actor to play Commander Bond. At least, that’s if an anonymous item from celebrity gossip site DeuxMoi (reported via Yahoo!) has anything to say on the matter. Most recently seen in the action/comedy Bullet Train, this anonymously sourced rumor has speculated that Johnson’s casting is in the bag, with a gun barrel trailer supposedly set to be released in March/April 2023, making the announcement.
This suggestion comes not too long after the British tabloid The Sun reported that Aaron Taylor Johnson had recently wowed Barbara Broccoli in a secret audition. Some may think that having two different sources swimming around the same rumor might make it a bit more believable. However, there’s some other factors to keep in mind when evaluating whether or not this wild announcement is valid.
James Bond History Seems To Suggest This Announcement Is Bogus
There’s a lot of reasons that this new rumor of Aaron Taylor Johnson’s James Bond casting is merely someone talking out of their martini glass. The first, and most important, is that producer Barbara Broccoli herself stated Bond 26 won’t be filming until 2024. As the wheels of motion at EON Productions aren’t trying to rush into the next era of 007, it seems like a good bet that auditioning may not have even started yet.
Another thing to note is the idea of an announcement trailer for the new James Bond actor seems a bit outside of the more traditional mindset the EON brass continue to employ. When Daniel Craig was cast, it wasn’t announced until October 14, 2015; with production on Casino Royale starting in January 2006 for its November release date. The timing of March/April doesn't work well for a movie that'll start filming in 2024, and it also foregoes another tradition: the dreaded first James Bond press conference!
Announcing a new Bond usually entails that moment where press and producer alike can start to talk up the new actor in the role. It's a time honored tradition that even had Daniel Craig dropping F-bombs over how nerve-wracking it all is. So even if Aaron Taylor Johnson is cast at the moment, we’d probably have to wait until next October for a grand event breaking that news. That being the month where the world celebrates another year of 007 adventure, it's not only fitting, but the best time to introduce such an announcement.
It will surely be interesting to see how and if Johnson’s odds to be the next James Bond spike with bettors after this announcement. However, as it seems likely that there’s still no script in place for this latest redefinition of 007’s character, these reports seem like they’re merely intended to test the waters and see if the former Kick Ass would be accepted by the public as Commander Bond.
For all we know, this unnamed source could be telling the truth, and we’ll just have to wait for the news to officially break, if it ever does. While we all wait for the eventual game of denial and speculation to continue, you can watch Aaron Taylor Johnson in one of this year’s best action movies, Bullet Train. The Brad Pitt-led film has just hit streaming, and anyone with a Netflix subscription can hop on board to enjoy the mayhem. James Bond will return in Bond 26, which is set to start filming in 2024.
