Steven Knight, the screenwriter tasked with reviving James Bond for Amazon MGM Studios, declined to confirm or deny that a new 007 has already been chosen, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today program Tuesday morning that he “cannot speak about this subject.” Knight, best known for creating “Peaky Blinders,” said he felt like he was doing his duty for King and country by taking on Ian Fleming’s spy franchise, but stopped short of addressing recent claims from actor Gary Oldman that casting has been finalized.
Oldman told Canada’s “The Morning Show” this week that producers have picked their Bond and are simply waiting to announce him. He said he hopes the choice is his “Slow Horses” co-star Jack Lowden, adding that Lowden’s name has circulated as a contender. BBC presenter Anna Foster pressed Knight on whether he already knows who will play the role while writing the script. He said knowing the actor makes the process easier, but that his job is to write the character rather than the performer.
Amazon MGM took full creative control of the Bond franchise from longtime stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson last year, and the studio has moved deliberately since. Denis Villeneuve is directing, working from a script Knight built partly around Fleming’s earliest novels.
Deadline reported in June that Villeneuve and producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman had begun contacting shortlisted actors ahead of August auditions, naming Harris Dickinson, Callum Turner and Jacob Elordi as performers who fit the profile the studio wanted. Other names floated over the past year include Tom Holland, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Henry Cavill, though none has been confirmed.
Pascal has said the studio is being methodical, calling Daniel Craig’s fifteen-year run a difficult standard to match and stressing the next actor needs to feel different and exciting. She has suggested an announcement could land before the year is out. Casting director Nina Gold finalized her involvement in the spring, and insiders say the studio is prioritizing a younger actor capable of anchoring several films, similar to Craig’s tenure.
