Callum Turner, Jack Lowden & Josh O’Connor: Finalists for the Next James Bond Screen Tests

The 007 Race Is Officially Down to the Wire

It’s actually happening. After five years of fan-castings, bookies’ odds that meant absolutely nothing, and a rumor cycle so relentless it practically became its own movie franchise, the search for the next James Bond has finally narrowed to something resembling a finish line.

Deadline reports that Amazon MGM Studios has offered screen tests to at least four actors for the role of 007 — with cameras set to roll as early as this weekend in London and continuing through next week. Three of the four names are now out in the open: Callum Turner, Jack Lowden, and Josh O’Connor. The fourth? That’s the part nobody’s talking about. A mystery, which feels fitting for a spy movie.

This is the real thing, not the usual tabloid fantasy football. These are final screen tests — the stage where a studio’s creative team puts an actor through actual scenes from the picture to see how they handle the tux, the gun, and the whole weight of the most famous franchise on earth.

And even if all four tests wrap by next week, don’t expect a dramatic announcement with smoke machines and a podium. Reports suggest there’s no official timeline for revealing who lands the part — though one of the producers has given us a very tempting window to circle on the calendar.

Callum Turner: Spotted With Dua Lipa Days Before the Big Test

If you’re looking for a frontrunner with perfect Bond timing, Callum Turner just handed you a headline. The 36-year-old British actor — married to pop superstar Dua Lipa — was photographed out in New York City twice this week, looking relaxed and very much like a man with big things on the horizon.

On Wednesday (October 21), the couple were spotted holding hands while walking their dog through the city. Later that same day, Callum was seen leading Dua and his mom, Rosemary, out of a restaurant at night. Sweet family dinner, zero red carpets, and yet somehow the whole town is talking about him anyway. That’s what the 007 conversation does to a career.

Turner has quietly built one of the most interesting résumés of anyone in this race. He starred in Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air — the big-budget WWII drama from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks — and headlined the romantic comedy One Night Only. Before that, he played Theseus Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts films and earned serious acting credibility for The Capture. He’s got the look, the range, and — let’s be honest — the kind of off-screen life that studios love to put on posters.

One wrinkle, though. Retired casting director Debbie McWilliams, the woman who helped cast Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig himself, recently told The Independent that Bond should remain a mystery to audiences. Her argument: the actor playing 007 shouldn’t be someone whose private life is already plastered everywhere. A spy, in her view, reveals nothing. Turner, married to one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, is about as far from anonymous as it gets. Just something to chew on.

Jack Lowden: The Slow Horses Star Everyone Keeps Betting On

Then there’s Jack Lowden, the name that refuses to leave this conversation. The 36-year-old Scottish actor has been attached to the Bond role longer than anyone, and he’s got some heavyweight believers. Richard Osman said over the summer that Lowden was being “strongly considered.” And in September, his Slow Horses co-star Gary Oldman went even further, musing on the record: “It’s been rumored that he’s on the shortlist. We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we? Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet.”

Now, Oldman might just be winding people up. But it’s a strange thing for a legend to say out loud if there’s nothing behind it.

Lowden’s case is strong on paper. As River Cartwright in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, he already plays a flawed, messy British intelligence officer — basically Bond with worse suits and better jokes. His other credits include Dunkirk and Mary Queen of Scots, and he’s married to Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, which puts him in the “serious actor” bracket the franchise tends to favor.

Fan detectives are already doing their thing, too. Some viewers spotted what they’re calling a clue in the Slow Horses season finale — with Cartwright’s fate left hanging — and took it as a sign that Lowden might be clearing his schedule for something much bigger. Could be reading the tea leaves. Could be right. We’ll see.

Josh O’Connor and the Mystery Fourth Name

Josh O’Connor rounds out the confirmed trio, and he’s the one with the most dramatic range to show off. The 36-year-old actor became a household name playing Prince Charles in The Crown, then pivoted hard into film stardom with Challengers and The History of Sound. He even starred alongside outgoing 007 himself, Daniel Craig, in Wake Up Dead Man. There’s something poetic about that — the old Bond handing the baton to the potential new one, on screen at least.

O’Connor is dating actress Alison Oliver, and he fits the pattern Amazon seems to be chasing: British, talented, respected, and just famous enough that a global audience will recognize him without being tired of him.

As for the fourth name — nobody knows. Various outlets have floated Heartthrob star Jack Barton as a possibility, a near-unknown who has reportedly impressed producers enough to earn a test alongside the big three. But that’s speculation stacked on speculation. The Wrap, Deadline, and The Hollywood Reporter all agree on one thing: four tests, one mystery.

Who’s Already Out of the Running

For every name in, there’s a fan favorite out — and this week brought some genuine surprises. Jacob Elordi, the 29-year-old Euphoria and Frankenstein star and Oscar nominee, is reportedly not among the finalists. That’s a real twist, considering insider Jeff Sneider had previously suggested Elordi was at the top of Amazon’s list — even claiming he’d already landed the role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he’s not testing. Consider that rumor officially dead.

Sinners breakout Jack O’Connell was also heavily rumored, but sources say he’s not testing either. (Some outlets note his status is still murky, with conflicting insider accounts, so keep one eye on that.) Previously linked names like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, and Idris Elba have all faded from the final picture.

It’s worth remembering how we got here. The tests were originally supposed to happen earlier in October but got pushed back because of scheduling conflicts among the finalists — everyone wanted them testing around the same time. Puck’s Matt Belloni had already warned in September that most of the contender lists floating around online were “bogus.” Turns out the real list was much shorter than anyone guessed.

The New Era: Villeneuve, Pascal, and a Very Different Bond

Whoever gets the tux is walking into a completely new era for 007. The next film will be directed by Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight writing the screenplay. Producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman are steering the ship — and Pascal has been refreshingly open about what they’re after.

“I would say the end of the year is a good bet,” she told Deadline about when the casting decision might be announced. She also said the team has been “methodical” in the search, looking for someone “really different” from Craig’s version of the character. “Daniel Craig is a hard act to follow,” she said. “And it’s got to be something really different that is stirring and exciting and different.”

That “really different” line is doing a lot of work. Craig’s Bond was brutal, broken, and deeply human — a spy who bled, cried, and ultimately died (literally blown up by missiles in No Time to Die). Where do you go after that? Back to glamour? Into something younger and rawer? The three known finalists are all 36, by the way. Not exactly the fresh-faced-unknown route, but not the grizzled-veteran play either.

This is also the first Bond film of the Amazon era. The studio took full creative control of the franchise from longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson in 2025, ending one of the most famous family stewardships in Hollywood history. All 25 existing Bond films now stream on Prime Video, and the pressure on Bond 26 — still without a release date — is enormous.

There’s even a villain rumor floating around: 29-year-old Ewan Mitchell, who plays the eyepatch-wearing Aemond Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon, is reportedly being considered for the film’s big bad. A rising star rather than an established name — which lines up with what sources say Amazon wants.

So here we are. Three named finalists, one ghost, and a weekend of screen tests that could decide the next decade of cinema’s most iconic franchise. Turner, Lowden, or O’Connor? A mystery pick out of nowhere? The odds-makers are going to have a field day, the fan armies are already at war, and somewhere in London this weekend, four men are about to try on the most famous tuxedo in the world.

Shaken, not stirred. Obviously.

Source: Just Jared