Jacob Elordi Just Got Named as the Next James Bond by a Trusted Hollywood Insider, and the Announcement Could Drop Any Day Now

The longest casting search in movie history might finally be over. Five years after Daniel Craig hung up his tuxedo in No Time to Die, a trusted Hollywood insider is reporting that Amazon MGM Studios has quietly finished screen testing for Bond 26, and one name is standing above the rest: Jacob Elordi.

According to entertainment reporter Jeff Sneider, writing in his The InSneider newsletter this week, the testing process for the next James Bond has officially wrapped, with Elordi and Scottish actor Jack Lowden confirmed as part of the final mix. And Sneider is not hedging. He expects the studio to hand the Walther PPK to the 29-year-old Australian star, with an official announcement landing “very, very soon.”

The report that sent the internet into overdrive

Sneider’s update, first picked up by ComicBook.com, reads like the beginning of the end of a five-year guessing game. In his words: “I do know that Jacob Elordi and Jack Lowden were part of it.” Then the prediction that has 007 fans refreshing their feeds: “I fully expect the studio and director Denis Villeneuve (who loves his young movie stars) to choose Elordi, as the internet has suspected from the very beginning.”

That last line is doing a lot of work. Ever since Amazon took the creative reins of the franchise, Elordi’s name has floated around every fan shortlist, and the internet has been manifesting this exact outcome for years.

But here is the part everyone needs to keep in mind: Amazon MGM Studios has not confirmed a single word of this. When pressed for comment, the studio stuck to its well rehearsed line: “While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.” That statement came alongside the latest reporting on the casting timeline, and until an official announcement lands, Elordi remains the rumored frontrunner, not the official Bond.

Why Elordi suddenly makes perfect sense

If the rumor is true, the logic writes itself. Elordi broke through in Netflix’s The Kissing Booth trilogy, then went in the opposite direction entirely as Nate Jacobs in HBO’s Euphoria. Since then, his filmography has been a masterclass in range: Elvis in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, the magnetic Oliver in Saltburn opposite Barry Keoghan, and a physically tortured turn as the creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.

He is the rare 29-year-old who reads both boyish and dangerous on camera, which is arguably the entire job description for 007. And he already has a Bond producer adjacent fan in Amy Pascal, who is producing the film alongside David Heyman. Pascal has told Deadline she believes “the end of the year is a good bet” for the announcement, adding, “We are being really, really methodical. Daniel Craig is a hard act to follow.”

Elordi himself has played the rumor game with charm. Back in 2023, he called the Bond whispers “beautiful,” telling Extra, “I just like that people maybe want to put me in their movies.” Then this past August, when Variety asked whether his London visit included any 007 conversations, he deadpanned: “I’m here on holiday.”

Jack Lowden is not out of the running either

Before anyone prints the “Bond. James Bond” trading cards, remember that Lowden was also in the final testing mix, and his credentials are genuinely strong. The Scottish actor plays MI5 operative River Cartwright in Apple TV’s Slow Horses, so he has spent years literally training audiences to buy him as a British spy.

His resume also includes The Gold and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. And back in August, author Richard Osman revealed on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast that he had heard Lowden’s name from inside the process: “The name I’ve heard is Jack Lowden. It is definitively not a ‘he’s definitely got it’ thing. He is definitely being strongly considered.”

The rest of the shortlist

Other names that have orbited the role include Callum Turner, Paul Mescal, West End star Tom Francis, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Harris Dickinson, and the perennial fan favorite Henry Cavill. Deadline previously reported the shortlist could run anywhere from five to seven names to a figure “in the teens.”

Interestingly, not everyone in Bond history is on board with the Elordi era. Debbie McWilliams, the longtime franchise casting director who cast Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig between 1981 and 2021 before retiring ahead of the Amazon takeover, told The Independent she would not want to see Elordi, Turner or Dickinson in the tux. Her reasoning: Bond must remain a total enigma, and modern stars share too much of themselves. Spies, she argued, should never be seen at home.

The team behind the camera is already locked

While the leading man is still technically a rumor, almost everything else about Bond 26 is settled. Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, is helming the film. The screenplay comes from Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, and casting is being run by Nina Gold. Pascal and Heyman are producing.

That is a murderer’s row of talent, and it explains why the casting choice carries so much weight. Villeneuve directing a James Bond movie is already one of the most exciting pairings in modern blockbuster filmmaking.

Fans are split, and that is putting it kindly

Predictably, the internet has opinions. One fan has already nicknamed Elordi “Temu007,” and a vocal contingent insists the British secret agent should be played by an actual Brit. Others question whether the Euphoria star can fill the silhouette of James Bond at all.

But plenty of fans are thrilled. Elordi’s defenders point to his physicality, his dramatic range, and the undeniable swagger he has carried through Saltburn and Priscilla.

History has a funny way of repeating itself: the most controversial casting announcements tend to age the best. Pierce Brosnan was considered too pretty. Craig was considered wrong in every way. Both redefined the role. If Elordi gets the call, he will be the first Australian to play 007, which is exactly the kind of shake up a five year dormant franchise might need.

What happens next

If Sneider is right, we could know the next James Bond within days or weeks. If Pascal’s timeline holds, the announcement lands before the end of the year either way. Five years is an eternity between Bond films, and the Villeneuve/Knight/Pascal/Heyman machine is too expensive to keep idling.

Either way, the sweepstakes are entering their final act. All signs point to Jacob Elordi. Now we wait for Amazon to make it official.

Read more: Elordi recently worked with Margot Robbie on the big screen and in a Chanel short film, see our story on Robbie’s Chanel jasmine fields fragrance film. For another franchise casting saga, check out how a superhero role once derailed Jesse Eisenberg’s career.