Who should be the next James Bond? A few out-of-the-box ideas

NEW YORK (AP) — The bond, James Bond, market is heating up.

For almost a year, Denis Villeneuve has been on tap to direct the next 007 installment, the first since Daniel Craig exited the role. Producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman have been lined up since March 2025. The big missing piece: Who’ll play the guy in the tux?

The casting process — the first that isn’t being overseen by the Broccoli family, which relinquished creative control to Amazon MGM last year — has been typically secretive. That hasn’t stopped rampant speculation about who’ll be the next Bond.

The oddsmakers have a few favorites, among them Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. But our task here, today, is to open up the possibilities. This is the first time in more than two decades that a new Bond is being minted. We should have some fun with it, and cast a wide net.

So let’s take a martini shaker to the favorites. Here are some out-of-the-box candidates, ranked from least plausible to kinda legitimate.

Steve Buscemi

What? Are you telling me you wouldn’t watch Steve Buscemi as James Bond? It would instantly become the most anticipated movie of the year. The people are already clamoring for it. If the pope can be American, so too can James Bond.

Sandra Hüller

It’s already become quite clear that there isn’t much Hüller can’t do. She can do the most serious of dramas (“The Zone of Interest,” “Anatomy of a Fall”) and a wide range of comedies (the recent “Project Hail Mary,” “Toni Erdmann”). More than most movie stars today, she has the seductive, deadly melancholy of Bond — plus she’d deliver a great 007 karaoke scene.

Hugh Laurie

Producers reportedly want a younger Bond, but an older one might actually give them more new ground to cover. This is a franchise past 50, so a 007 in their 60s is hardly farfetched. Laurie has dabbled in spy thrillers (most notably the John le Carré adaptation “The Night Manager”). We know from “House” that he has a terrific bedside manner in life-or-death situations. And he’s a comic genius who can wear a suit.

Tony Hale

Again: You’re telling me you wouldn’t watch this? Buster Bluth, Forky, James Bond. It’s a seamless trajectory.

Dominic West

West auditioned for Bond when Craig was ultimately cast, but I don’t see why the 56-year-old isn’t still a good option. He has the charm and the roguish smile that would make him a legitimate heir to Sean Connery. He’s played a British spy before, in, um, Rowan Atkinson’s “Johnny English Reborn.” And we already associate him, thanks to “The Wire,” with real police work. Imagine if an actor from “The Wire” got the role and it wasn’t Idris Elba.

Aaron Pierre

OK, now we’re getting serious. I think Pierre, the 31-year-old British actor, is such an overwhelmingly natural fit that I’m surprised he hasn’t already been cast. As much as I’d like to see some less obvious candidates (I didn’t even mention Melissa McCarthy or Sacha Baron Cohen), Pierre’s suave poise makes him an ideal James Bond. Watch “Rebel Ridge” and tell me he doesn’t have all the ingredients. Unless Buscemi steps forward, Pierre should get the role.