007 Casting Producer Confirms Next James Bond Will Not Be Gen-Z

How old is James Bond supposed to be? It looks like, for the foreseeable future, he’ll never be a twenty-something.

When Daniel Craig filmed No Time To Die in 2019, he was 51 years old. This didn’t make him the oldest Bond actor to appear on screen as 007; Roger Moore was 57 in A View to a Kill. And when Sean Connery filmed the “unofficial” 1983 Bond flick, Never Say Never Again, he was 52. In the 1967 spoof version of Casino Royale, David Niven’s retired version of Bond was 57. And while there’s no indication that longtime James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are looking to cast someone older than Daniel Craig, they’re not looking for a super-young guy either.

James Bond Will Never Be In His Twenties

On October 5, 2022, the EON James Bond movie franchise will celebrate its 60th anniversary; back in 1962, that’s when the first Sean Connery film, Dr. No hit the big screen. During a recent celebratory event at the British Film Institute, producer Wilson made two things clear: They’re not currently auditioning Daniel Craig’s replacement, and when they do, it will definitely not be someone in their twenties. According to Deadline, here’s exactly what Wilson said about the age factor when casting a new 007:

“We’ve tried looking at younger people in the past. But trying to visualize it doesn’t work. Remember, Bond’s already a veteran. He’s had some experience. He’s a person who has been through the wars, so to speak. He’s probably been in the SAS or something. He isn’t some kid out of high school that you can bring in and start off. That’s why it works for a thirty-something.”

To date, the youngest Bond was George Lazenby who was exactly 30 when appeared in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). Despite the “thirty-something” comment from Wilson, a good chunk of Bonds are usually in their early 40s when they begin: Pierce Brosnan was 42 in GoldenEye (1995), Timothy Dalton was 41 in The Living Daylights (1987) and Roger Moore was 45 in Live and Let Die (1973).

James Bond Amazon Takeover

Because of the Amazon merger with MGM, the rights to distribute James Bond movies, will, for the foreseeable future, be connected to Amazon. In the short term, this means starting October 5, 2022, all 25 EON-produced “official” James Bond movies will be streaming on Amazon Prime, presumably, forever. (This is a contrast with the way James Bond movies have hop-scotched streaming platforms for several years.)

But the Amazon merger also has bigger implications for James Bond. Could any future 007 installments be straight-to-streaming? Could we be looking at a 007 TV series instead of theatrical films?

Wilson didn’t reveal what form the next interaction of Bond will take, but simply said: “It’s a whole new world. We’ve got to see what happens with Amazon. But there’ll always be a Bond.”

All the James Bond movies will stream on Amazon Prime on “James Bond Day” on October 25, 2022. A new documentary about Bond music called The Sound of 007 will debut the same day.