News that Amazon had taken over Ian Fleming’s James Bond franchise from the Broccoli family was admittedly a shock. 007 fans immediately questioned the move, wondering if Bezos & Co. would, or better yet, could, continue the unquestionable success the franchise had with Daniel Craig. Craig’s Bond grossed nearly $4 billion across five movies at the box office. How would Amazon reassure fans that it will be just as committed to the character as their predecessors?
Well, hiring one of Hollywood’s best directors was certainly a start. As we reported earlier, the studio officially announced that Denis Villenueve (Dune, Blade Runner 2049, Sicario) would direct Bond 26. His work on Sicario (scoring 92% on Rotten Tomatoes) perhaps gives us the best indicator of what we might expect from his James Bond…. But who will it be?
Director announcement fuels speculation for next James Bond
With Amazon naming a director, all eyes are now turning to the casting department. There have been plenty of names bandied about – Henry Cavill, James Norton, and Harris Dickenson have all leapt to the top of the list of prospective 007 successors. If we were to predict, however, we’d look elsewhere for implication rather than tying names for the next James Bond to Villenueve. Instead, we turn to Omega.
Die-hard fans of the franchise will know that Omega has been the official timekeeper, if you will, of 007 since Pierce Brosnan took over the role in Goldeneye. Since then, James Bond has worn one or multiple Omega timepieces in every single film since. So how does this predict the next Bond? Well, immediately prior to signing on to the role, each of Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig first became Omega brand ambassadors. So why is this important?
Did Omega just signal the next 007?
Another name that’s topped the list of James Bond successors is Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter; 28 Years Later, Bullet Train). Guess who, in the last several weeks, just became Omega’s latest brand ambassador? That’s right, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Now of course this could all be coincidental…. But I don’t think he became the new face of Omega to showcase a post-apocalyptic zombie film. At thirty-five years old he’s the perfect age to pick up the James Bond mantle. He is, of course, also British. Will he be the next 007?
We’d bet our Moneypenny on it.
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