Bond 26 Is On The Way (Really). Here's What We Know About The Next Era Of James Bond, Including Some New Updates For 2026

We still don't have a ton of new details on the next installment in the James Bond franchise, which is still just being referred to as James Bond 26. Of course, we know who is writing and who is directing (more on that below), and we know it won't be released on the 2026 movie schedule. We're still waiting with great anticipation to know who will be starring as the legendary 007, after Daniel Craig retired from the role after No Time To Die in 2021 (has really almost been 5 years??) We have some thoughts on that, as well, of course.

Still, we're here to do our best to update everything we know about the future of the franchise, and specifically the next film, now that the Broccoli family has ceded control to Amazon after their billion-dollar deal to sell the rights to the character and the franchise. We'll start with what we definitely know and then get into some of the rumors.

Denis Villeneuve Will Direct James Bond 26

The biggest answer we have now is that the next James Bond movie will be helmed by director Denis Villeneuve. In June 2025, Amazon announced that the Canadian director will begin working on Bond 26 as soon as he wraps production on another sequel in a now-iconic franchise, Dune: Part Three. That movie officially wrapped filming in November, and dropped its first trailer in March 2026, though there is certainly a lot of post-production work that will go into the epic before its release date in December.

Having Villeneuve on board is a promising first step for the new era of James Bond films. He's a director who knows his way around a beloved literary hero, as he's shown with the Dune franchise, and he's worked on films with huge budgets. He's also just a fantastic director, with modern classics under his belt like Sicario, Blade Runner 2049, and Prisoners.

Bond 26 Will Be Written By Peaky Blinders Creator Steven Knight

Not only does Bond 26 have a heavyweight director, but it’ll be written by the creator of Peaky Blinders and House of Guinness, both of which you can watch now with a Netflix subscription, including the brand new Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. It’s another comfort to know that the martini-loving Bond will have solid writing behind him, although some of the rumors point to an origin story, which, if I’m honest, I’m not super psyched about (more on that later). However, I will trust that Knight will get the story right, whatever it is.

As for what Knight is writing, we got a little, tiny peek into his thoughts when he told Variety in March 2026:

Knight also teased that there will be some news "soon," but sadly didn't elaborate on what that news could be. Of course, the most anticipated news fans are waiting is who will be the next 007? Well, let's get into that.

Who Will Play James Bond? How About The Rest Of The Cast?

The number one question on fans’ minds is who will follow Daniel Craig as James Bond? To that, no one has any answers. There have been a ton of rumors, of course. Names like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, and Timothée Chalamet are just a few that have been tossed around as possible successors to the Craig Era.

Some recent news seems to indicate that it could be a younger, unknown actor who takes on the role. According to one report at least, Villeneuve and Co. are looking to revamp absolutely everything. A new spy, a new era. According to other reports, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore star Callum Turner is now a favorite candidate for the role, but as The Hollywood Reporter pointed out in January 2026, you can't trust a lot of these rumors, as most tend to be false.

It's worth noting that in March of 2026, Turner still seems to be the most popular guess. In fact, as of this writing, Turner is the favorite on the prediction market Kalshi, though, at 50%, he's hardly a shoo-in. Josh O'Connor is another popular pick on the betting site, with 21% of people favoring the Wake Up Dead Man star.

Other rumors point to Jacob Elordi nabbing the role (15% on Kalshi). Elordi is riding high after his triumph as The Monster in the recent Netflix release, Frankenstein, and the sky is currently the limit for the Euphoria cast member. Casting a younger actor like Turner may point back to that other rumor that the next movie may be an origin story.

As for the rest of the cast, like M, Moneypenny, Q, and even who the next “Bond Girl” could be, well, those are all questions that we’ll likely see answered after Bond is named, and it will probably be a few months before there is any news at all. Perhaps much longer, more on that below, as well.

What Will Bond 26 Be About?

As I've hinted at, this could be an origin story. That has been a major rumor surrounding the film for a few months now, as I write this in January 2026. A lot of the casting rumors (which, again, should be taken with a grain of salt) have focused on actors in their 20s, which would make sense for a young James Bond, perhaps still in the Navy, before joining MI6.

While it's not what I want to see, as it's a character the world is very familiar with, it does make some sense. This is a new era of Bond in every way, from the producers on down, and so taking it back to the beginning seems natural. We did get the hint of an origin story in the first film of the Daniel Craig era, Casino Royale, but these rumors suggest it would go much further back than that film did.

I would much rather see an approach like James Gunn took with Superman in 2025. Superman, like Bond, isn't a character we need to be reintroduced to. However, I'll be so thrilled when Bond does return, and I trust the creative team, that I'll be fine whatever direction they take the next movie.

What Is Bond 26’s Release Date?

The final big question, and perhaps the biggest, is when will the movie hit the big screen? Villeneuve has wrapped shooting on the final installment of his Dune trilogy, which is scheduled to be released in December. How post-production will take on Dune: Part Three is anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to assume that the earliest Villeneuve might get started on Bond is at least a ways away at this point. Deadline has reported that production will likely start sometime in 2027.

What does that mean for the release date? Unfortunately for us Bond fans, it means sometime in 2028 is probably the earliest we’ll see the spy with a license to kill on the big screen again. That means it’ll officially be the longest delay between James Bond movies, as No Time To Die came out in 2021. That honor is currently held by the roughly six years between License to Kill and Goldeneye, as well as Spectre and No Time to Die.

So, it’s going to be a while, but there are still 25 previous Bond films to enjoy with a Prime subscription. James Bond 26 will be huge, so as we learn more, we’ll keep updating this with all the latest news.