007 UPDATE: Robert Pattinson Did A Surprise Screen Test To Be The New James Bond And Appears To Be Amazon's Favorite Over Nicolas Hoult, Josh O'Connor & Callum Turner
WHOA. We had some crazy news hit Hollywood last night with confirmed rumors about a few new BIG names dropping into the James Bond bucket. Just earlier this week it seemed like a slam dunk that either Callum Turner or Josh O'Connor would be picking up the cuff links & Walther PPK for Denis Villeneuve's Amazon reboot.
But not so fast my shaken not stirred friends... Because now we got Robert Pattinson & Nicolas Hoult firmly in the mix too. CAN SOMEBODY GET THESE B-LEVEL ACTORS OUT OF HERE?!
(SOURCE) - In a surprise few saw coming, Robert Pattinson has emerged as a contender for 007. The actor, 40, is among those who have screen tested for the role of James Bond, multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, joining hopefuls Callum Turner, Jack Lowden and Josh O’Connor. Conventional wisdom has been that the next man to get the license to kill would not be a globally recognized star like Pattinson, one of the biggest actors of his age cohort, and already the face of DC Studios’ Batman franchise. The screen tests are said to have occurred the weekend of Oct. 24. THR previously reported that four, possibly five actors were in the mix but only three names surfaced at the time. Another name now surfacing as one of the Bond mystery men is Nicholas Hoult, a runnerup to Pattinson for Batman years ago.
Amazon had no comment on the testing. While conventional wisdom goes against a world famous Bond, these are unprecedented times in the franchise. It is the first Bond movie made under the control of Amazon, which bought out the creative rights from the Broccoli family in February 2025
LOVE the pick if it ends up being Pattison. Although does seem like Amazon has been leaking different names this week merely to gauge the public reception ahead of time. But dunno how you acknowledge him as a legitimate candidate and then decide to go in a different direction.
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No offense to those other actors, they're fine enough chaps. Just not sure they possess the gravitas that Battinson can clearly reach so seamlessly. And I don't think him playing another iconic character like Batman at the same time takes away anything either. He's talented enough to pull off both.
Plus he has been thinking about playing Bond for over 20 years at this point. Also just worked with Denis on 'Dune 3'. I see the vision here.
(SOURCE FROM 2012) - As the Twilight franchise winds down, Robert Pattinson took a moment to consider his post-Edward Cullen career in a new interview. Among the options in his professional bucket list, the British actor tells The Sun, is to one day succeed Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Daniel Craig as the U.K.s most iconic spy. "Yeah, I'd definitely like to go for Bond, but in more like 20 years. There'd be nothing worse than, like, 'let's get a fresh- faced Bond? That would be the worst idea in the world."
And even though this new Amazon reboot seemed primed to inject some young blood into the role, now I'm not so sure that's the move. Think I'm all set watching a baby faced Bond figure out how he likes his martinis. If you really want a full on origin story for 007, go watch 'Casino Royale' or play the 'First Light' video game that just came out.
I'd much prefer getting a grizzled seasoned spy who's been in the game for years. Have Denis drop us right into the action and assume we know enough backstory to get rolling off the jump. Really don't need to reinvent the wheel here. And I don't think the age is an issue either. Who cares that Pattinson is already 40 years old? Daniel Craig aside, he'd be a spring chicken compared to previous castings who worked out just fine.
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But reports say we'll get an answer on this new 007 by Thanksgiving. If it's not Pattinson or Hoult, we can only hope they'll do something to CGI out the bulbous British ears of Turner & O'Connor. Nice guys I'm sure, although possibly just too posh for me.
Elizabeth Hurley would be a great villainous femme fatale though, then maybe throw in Margaret Qualley or Sydney Sweeney as the legit love interest? Now THAT is a casting we can all get behind. Fingers & Walthers crossed for that!
PS: speaking of 007, did you know Michael Bay definitely wrote Sean Connery's character in 'The Rock' to be a continuation of his James Bond version? One of my favorite Hollywood theories out there. Winnahs go home and fack da prom queen Moneypenny!