The final screen tests to cast the next James Bond are due to be held in London this weekend, foreign media reports say.
Callum Turner and Jack Lowden are reported to be taking part, with Josh O’Connor also named among the contenders, Hiru News reported. Accounts put the number of actors reaching the final stage at between three and five, though the reports differ both on the names and on how the selection process is being run.
The tests are said to involve action sequences, on-camera presence and the delivery of dialogue — the standard format for a role that has historically been decided on screen rather than in auditions alone.
No announcement has been made about who will play the part. Amazon MGM Studios, which controls the franchise, has not commented.
The vacancy has been open since Daniel Craig’s final outing in the role, and speculation has run for years without resolution. The casting carries unusual commercial weight: Bond is among the longest-running and most valuable franchises in cinema, and the choice of lead sets the tone for a decade or more of films.
On sourcing. Hiru News is the only newsroom on this desk’s verified list found carrying the story, so it is published as a single-source report. The three names it gives match those appearing in wider entertainment-trade reporting, which this desk checked but has not cited, as those outlets do not count towards the verification standard used here. Hiru’s own caution — that reports conflict on the shortlist — is worth carrying forward: nothing about the casting is settled until Amazon MGM says so.
Source: Final screen tests for the James Bond role this weekend — Hiru News, October 23 (Sinhala).