It’s been an eventful week for the world of James Bond as if we believe reports that Aaron Taylor-Johnson is signing on the dotted line to become the (00)7th secret agent.
Bond is a big talking point for film fans and the British press as it gets people to click on the online article. That’s why many actors have been rumoured and the Bullet Train star is no exception.
However, this time it felt different. While the story came from The Sun and should obviously be taken with a pinch of salt, it feels like I’m taking less salt than before. This is simply because other publications have picked up and ran with it.
It could be because it was a slow news day and while Deadline did reach out to Eon, they didn’t necessarily deny it.
“As a source at EON sagely pointed out to Deadline, if it spent its days reacting to reports about who is replacing Daniel Craig as 007, it would have time for little else.”
The US trade added, “This person steered us away from The Sun story this morning, but did not outright deny the report.”
I’m not saying I believe The Sun completely. Just last week, they noted Cillian Murphy was rumoured. That was complete utter horseshit because he’s 47 and is not Bond in the slightest. This was only said to sell papers and get online clicks during the Oscars.
Instead, I will wait to hear from The Hollywood Reporter, Variety or Baz Bamigboye from Deadline, as he has a decent track record for breaking Bond news.
However, I do believe something is happening behind the scenes.
Mainly because finding the next 007 is literally Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson’s job, but this week marked the second anniversary of Amazon buying MGM for $8.5 billion. I wouldn’t be surprised if the streamer wanted to start doing something with their biggest asset and begin recouping what they paid.
I’ll quite happily eat my words and feel 45% confident, but I think Taylor-Johnson will be unveiled as the new James Bond, possibly in the summer.
Not to sound too hyperbolic, but this would be perfect casting. Similar to Robert Pattinson as Batman, Heath Ledger’s Joker, Meryl Streep playing Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada and Matthew Lillard as Shaggy in the live-action Scooby Doo.
At 33, the High Wycombe lad is the perfect age to carry the franchise for the next 10-15 years and do three to four films because it seems Eon take an age now to pull their finger out.
Elsewhere, if you saw him in the David Leitch-directed Bullet Train, in stills for the upcoming The Fall Guy and in the trailer of Sony/Marvel’s Kraven the Hunter, Taylor-Johnson is built like a brick shithouse.
He’ll easily add so much physicality, more so than Craig ever did, and has grown into an actor that demands the screen.
The perfect example is Leitch’s 2022 action comedy because Taylor-Johnson is the most charismatic person on screen, over Brad Pitt! The British star is also brutal, hits brilliant comedic moments, has great fight and action scenes, has a wonderful tache, and by god, he makes smoking look cool (and I hate smoking) with his walk and flick of his cigarette.
That movie is his Bond audition. There’s a very cool scene in the film where he breaks back into the train and walks down the carriage, pissed off with Channing Tatum mentioning how great his work is.
He’s also well-known but not a household name, with roles as Quicksilver in the MCU and Kick-Ass. For many women, he’s Robbie from Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging.
Additionally, he’s taken on interesting acting roles in Nocturnal Animals, The Wall and Anna Karenina. He’s also worked with directors like Gareth Edwards, Mathew Vaughn, Christopher Nolan and is about to work with Robert Eggers in Nosferatu.
The Jewish actor is on the cusp of becoming a major star, similar to Craig, who did Layer Cake and Munich before Casino Royale came out.
Bizarrely, when I saw this story and the social media reaction, I couldn’t help but think about when Pattinson talked to Time Out about his annoyance of his rumoured/leaked casting for the title role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman before even auditioning.
Telling Time Out, “I hadn’t even done the audition. It’s just nerve-wrecking because I was really excited about it and you think: really, is this how I’m going to lose the role? It’s the most annoying circumstances to lose something.”
Like Pattinson, it wouldn’t be the case here either. It’s interesting how actors feel when these prominent roles are rumoured or leaked and how they handle it in the press, giving the safest answer possible during junkets and red carpets.
As Taylor-Johnson recently told fashion magazine Numéro (via Yahoo Entertainment) that he finds the speculation “charming and wonderful that people see me in that role, I take it as a great compliment.”
The aftermath of the rumour that Aaron was “formally offered the job” on social media was surprising, but if you’re a studio head, it will make you happy because if a rumour is trending all day in the UK and the US, the official announcement will get fantastic coverage.
The biggest surprise from the social media reaction, minus the Bond fans and media outlets, is the majority of posts on Twitter/X and TikTok came from women who have loved ATJ since the 2008 teen movie Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and have said they would go a see a James Bond film if these rumours become official.
So the potential casting of Taylor-Johnson as the world’s most famous agent would open a whole new demographic. If the story has him coming out of the sea or pool (like Craig in Casino Royale) and looking like he did in these Calvin Klein ads from last year, women and gays will be in heaven.
It would be the definition of “every man wants to be him and every woman wants him.”
Finally, if they get the right writer and director, audiences are telling studios that they’ll turn up to the cinema for fun, adventure films that they leave with a smile.
As shown recently with Top Gun: Maverick, Barbie and Mission Impossible alongside the positive reactions to the Ryan Gosling action-comedy The Fall Guy and Monkey Man (directed and starring Dev Patel) from SXSW, plus the new Guy Ritchie movie – The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – looks so much fun.
As Mark O’Connell, author of Catching Bullets: Memoirs of a Bond Fan, told Yahoo Entertainment, “Mainstream cinema is riding a wave of nostalgia as it often does, which is perfect for Bond.”
Adding, “Warm-spirited, well-played cinema beats of pure entertainment are back in vogue.”
The Bear Cave 