Denis Villeneuve confirmed the search for the next James Bond is underway. At a GQ event at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, the director offered three words: "It's in the process."
He then added four more: "I am pushing the gas."
Villeneuve recently completed post-production on Dune: Part Three, including its 70mm IMAX print, closing roughly a decade of work on Frank Herbert's saga. Bond 26 is next. It is the first Bond film under Amazon MGM's ownership of the franchise, and the first without Daniel Craig, who last appeared in No Time to Die in 2021.
Five names have appeared in screen test reports: Robert Pattinson, Nicholas Hoult, Jack Lowden, Josh O'Connor, and Callum Turner. Villeneuve confirmed none of them. Casting director Nina Gold, whose credits include Game of Thrones, The Crown, and five Star Wars films, was brought on in March 2026, per Deadline. On the stakes of the decision, the director put it plainly: "We cannot f*ck it up. We do not have the choice."
Former Bond Pierce Brosnan praised the reported candidates in an interview with Vanity Fair, saying of Callum Turner: "So strong." Producer Amy Pascal has previously suggested a casting announcement before the end of 2026.
