James Bond fans are set to wait more than five years in total to see their favourite spy back on screen – due to delays in production and casting.
Daniel Craig’s final film No Time To Die hit cinema screens in September 2021 and the following year in June 2022 Bond producer Barbara Broccoli said the next Bond was a long way from filming, reports the Mirror.
She told Deadline at the time: “There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film because, really, it’s a reinvention of Bond. We’re reinventing who he is, and that takes time. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”
The deadline has now been and gone and the transition to find a new 007 hasn’t been smooth with no leading man named and the next project years from hitting the big screen.
Additionally, Bond’s executive producer Broccoli now has commitments to a musical titled ‘Sing Street’ transferring to the London stage in the Summer of 2025, which will likely take up a lot of her time in the coming months.
With no official title, ‘Bond 26′ is listed as ‘In Development’ on industry websites without a leading man confirmed as in place and no shooting locations or plot.
At present, there is no shooting schedule which would normally be drafted months in advance and Bond films in the past have taken up to two years to film and edit.
“The best case scenario is a new Bond film in cinemas by the end of 2026 – which is five years after No Time To Die – and that’s if things get shaken up soon,” said one film insider. Another source claimed there were rumours of problems with scripts and delays.
Men’s magazine GQ in October questioned who would be the new Bond, highlighting reports previously that Aaron Taylor-Johnson had auditioned for the role and is said to have verbally agreed to the part.
It also suggested Masters Of The Air star Callum Turner who bookmakers say has been backed to play the smooth spy.
Further reports last month also linked Aaron Pierre who would be the first black Bond as well as Theo James from The White Lotus.
Fans have been debating the delay on forums, hoping the wait to find out who replaces Daniel Craig after five films as 007 is not much longer.
Gaps between Bond films vary with No Time To Die delayed by Covid and coming out six years after Spectre.
But in the two decades of films before that though, the 007 films tended to come out every 2-4 years. Bond film producers EON were contacted but did not comment on when the next film would be released.
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