Callum Turner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Aaron Pierre are among the stars rumoured to be in the running to play James Bond

It’s now been almost five years since Daniel Craig’s departure from the James Bond franchise in No Time To Die – and somehow there’s still been no confirmation on who will be succeeding him as 007.

Over the last year, there have been some behind-the-scenes developments for the James Bond franchise, with a new creative team taking control and an Oscar-nominated filmmaker having now been chosen to direct the next instalment.

Despite this, an actor playing Bond is still to be selected – and while for some time it looked like the role was Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s for the taking, new reports suggest the part could be going to someone else entirely.

As we dive into the latest 007 rumour, here are 17 more stars who’ve all been rumoured at some point to be taking over Daniel Craig at the helm of the iconic franchise...

Callum Turner

Who is he? Callum Turner has been putting in the work for more than a decade now, but he’s enjoyed a real breakthrough in the last few years.

Some of his most recent projects include the Fantastic Beasts movies, in which he played Theseus Scamander, the sports drama The Boys In The Boat and the star-studded Apple TV series Masters Of The Air.

He’s also been making headlines for several years now thanks to his relationship with his famous fiancée, pop superstar Dua Lipa, who has also been repeatedly linked with the Bond franchise as she’s been rumoured to be recording the next film’s accompanying theme song.

Where did the rumour come from? In December 2025, several news outlets spotted that betting odds had been suddenly slashed on Callum being cast as James Bond.

Since then, Callum’s name was mentioned in an article published by the Mail, suggesting he’d been “blabbing all over town” that he’d landed the coveted spy role.

What has he said? Despite the Mail’s reports about Callum’s loose-lipped approach to his Bond casting, he hasn’t said anything publicly yet, but HuffPost UK has contacted his team for comment.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Who is he? Until recently, Aaron has been widely considered as the frontrunner for the role of James for more than a year now. His past credits include the superhero comedy Kick-Ass, the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.

Since then, he’s appeared in projects as varied as Marvel’s Kraven The Hunter, the arthouse horror flick Nosferatu and Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later.

Where did the rumour come from? In November 2022, Aaron supposedly met with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli (who has since left the franchise), with follow-up reports claiming the meeting “went well”.

More recently, in 2024, tabloid reports went as far as saying he’d been cast in the role, though this was walked back mere days later. However, the rumour mill has been in overdrive once again in recent history thanks to a series of clues pointing to Aaron playing 007.

What has he said? Nothing concrete just yet – but his skittishness when it comes to whether or not he’s playing James Bond has to count for something, right?

Idris Elba

Who is he? The James Bond rumour that’s being going around the longest time involved Idris Elba, whose acting credits include the Thor films, Beasts of No Nation, the Fast & Furious series and the BBC detective drama Luther.

Where did the rumour come from? Idris has been rumoured to be in the running to play 007 for more than a decade (since the speculation began in 2014, there’ve been three new films in the series released), with leaked emails from Sony executives suggesting he was a favourite for the part. Following this, then-Bond boss Barbara Broccoli said Idris has been “part of the conversation” about who the role goes to next.

However, in August 2022 it was reported that Idris had

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