Callum Turner Tipped as Bond by Insider Who First Called Daniel Craig

Over Halloween weekend, Callum Turner walked into Bray Studios in Berkshire and screen-tested for the role of James Bond. Two days later, Roger Friedman of Showbiz411, the reporter who reportedly first named Daniel Craig as 007 more than twenty years ago, wrote that "word on the street" was that Turner had the role. By November 3, searches for "callum turner bond" were at peak interest in the United States.

Amazon MGM has not confirmed any casting. The search for the next James Bond has been managed in near-total silence by director Denis Villeneuve, producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman, and casting director Nina Gold. But Friedman's track record has given his report weight that most early casting whispers do not carry.

He's tall, but not too tall. He can act, but not too much. Director Denis Villeneuve can shape him up.
Roger Friedman, Showbiz411, November 2, 2026, via Dark Horizons

Three finalists, one unnamed name

Variety reported on October 23 that final screen tests were set to begin that week at Bray Studios. Three candidates made the final round: Turner, known for Fantastic Beasts and the Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air; Jack Lowden, the Dunkirk actor and star of Slow Horses; and Josh O'Connor, whose Prince Charles in The Crown and his lead role in Challengers made him the most critically decorated of the group. A fourth, unnamed actor was also reported to be in contention, per Deadline.

The candidates have handled the public attention with varying degrees of silence. O'Connor told Deadline in January 2025 that he had "no thoughts, really," tracing the rumours to an offhand joke about playing Bond followed by a Daniel Craig interview that somehow became news. "If I am Bond, I don't know about it," he said. This week, per both the BBC and the Hollywood Reporter, O'Connor described the experience of being Bond-speculated again as an "incredibly bizarre pinch me moment."

It's all very flattering. It's nice to be mentioned for any role and I'm just not really going to add to the noise.
Jack Lowden, GQ UK, published around November 2, 2026, via Dark Horizons

Lowden's wife, actor Saoirse Ronan, was equally careful. She told Variety the Bond rumours were "not really a subject that's coming up in our house." Turner, at the Berlin Film Festival in February, said "It's very early for that question" and declined to comment further.

What Turner brings and what he does not

Dark Horizons, which covered the Friedman report critically, noted that Turner is "physically the closest of the contenders to Fleming's Bond, but the least acclaimed actor of the group." O'Connor has a BAFTA for The Crown; Lowden's Slow Horses performance has drawn consistent critical praise. Turner's credits are commercially significant but critically mixed. Some outlets pointed to Turner's December 2025 departure from Twentytwo Films, a production company he co-founded with his wife Dua Lipa, as a signal that a Bond deal was in the works. Dark Horizons noted the resignation predates the reported audition timeline.

The Dua Lipa dimension has attracted separate speculation. Friedman noted in his Showbiz411 post that Turner's casting would set up Lipa as a natural fit for the Bond theme song, calling the combination appealing. Lipa has more than 3 billion streams on Spotify. Whether Amazon MGM and Eon Productions view the personal connection as a feature or a complication has not been reported.

The franchise stakes

This Bond film will be the first Amazon MGM has made under full creative control, following a 2023 agreement with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Steven Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders, is writing the screenplay. The role is one of the most commercially significant acting contracts in cinema, and an announcement is widely expected before year-end 2026.

Ad Watch News is an independent commentary site with no affiliation with Amazon MGM, Callum Turner, Josh O'Connor, Jack Lowden, Dua Lipa, or the James Bond franchise.

Callum Turner Tipped as Bond by Insider Who First Called Daniel Craig

Three finalists, one unnamed name

What Turner brings and what he does not

The franchise stakes

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