The frontrunner for James Bond has walked away — and Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult are now on the shortlist
If you had a favourite picked for the 007 reboot, think again: a leading contender has just stepped aside, shaking up the race for the next Bond.
The James Bond rumour mill is spinning at full tilt again, as the hunt for the next 007 reaches crunch time. With Bond 26 director Denis Villeneuve supposedly narrowing his sights, the only thing that's certain is that he's not letting anything slip — and frankly, trying to squeeze info out of him is a bit like getting Her Majesty to read out the MI6 staff rota.
But the real intrigue? While Villeneuve is busy maintaining radio silence, industry gossip has thrown a fresh set of names into the ring, and it’s no small fry. Both Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult are now allegedly on the final shortlist, elbowing each other along with a crowd of hopefuls desperate for the Aston Martin keys.
The biggest shock: the top candidate, widely assumed to be in pole position, has apparently decided to call it quits and walked away just as things were closing in.
Forget “shaken, not stirred” — it’s more “who’s even still in the race?”. Those Hollywood shortlists always come with a healthy pinch of salt, but if these names are anything to go by, we’re looking at a very different Bond indeed. Meanwhile, Villeneuve continues to play it coy, which, if history tells us anything, means nothing’s truly settled until someone emerges with a tux, gun and theme song to match.