Richard Madden sits on the edge of a Bond search that is now down to three actors, with Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor expected to take final screen tests this weekend. The next James Bond is due to become known to insiders after that process, ending a five-year gap since Daniel Craig was killed at the end of No Time to Die.
The three actors will be judged on stunts, camera presence and dialogue. That narrows the field to a small, practical test rather than another round of industry noise, and it gives Amazon and Denis Villeneuve a cleaner way to settle the franchise’s next lead after what is likely the longest fallow period in its 64-year history.
Jack Lowden and the frontrunner case
Jack Lowden is described as a frontrunner, and the source adds a useful complication: he may be a bit too much of a teddy bear for a sociopath like Bond. The first scene of the first episode of Slow Horses was described as a pretty good Bond audition in itself, which is the sort of screen-test shorthand casting teams actually care about.
That is not a soft compliment. Bond has to project authority, menace and restraint in the same frame, and the final tests will be looking for whether any of the three can carry those three main elements at once. Lowden’s profile gives him the inside lane, but the same read that makes him appealing also leaves room for doubt about whether he can harden the role enough.
Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor
Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor remain in the frame, and the source draws a different case for each of them. Turner would seem to make a sexier Bond, while O’Connor would be the best fit. Those are not interchangeable qualities; they point to a casting decision between surface magnetism and a more complete tonal match.
The race is also narrower than it first appears. Jack O’Connell and Jacob Elordi are said to be out of it for one reason or another, leaving three actors for the final screen tests and reducing the odds of a surprise entrant slipping in at the last minute.
A five-year Bond gap
Five years after No Time to Die, the franchise is still without a new lead, and the delay has stretched the search into what looks like the longest fallow period in its 64-year history. That is why this weekend matters: the screen tests are not a ceremonial callback, but the point where the decision becomes visible to insiders.
Richard Madden belongs in the conversation because the current field is being sorted by fit, not fame. If the reported structure holds, the weekend should produce a much clearer read on who can handle the physical work, the line delivery and the camera test that define James Bond more than any rumor does.
The cleaner bet is that the answer arrives after the tests, not before them. If one of the three lands those three main elements, the casting stops being a list and starts being a choice.
