With the final James Bond screen tests that are expected to take place starting today, bookmakers are placing odds on the next Bond, Bond Girl and theme song artist.
As The Hollywood Reporter detailed Thursday, Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Jack O’Connell are three finalists expected to test for the highly coveted role of 007.
But while studio Amazon MGM, producers and director Denis Villeneuve may or may not have made up their minds on who gets the role, bookmakers have released odds for anyone willing to enter the casino royale of online betting.
According to Oddschecker — a leading British betting-odds comparison platform that aggregates odds from established bookmakers — Slow Horses star Jack Lowden is the favorite heading into the home stretch at 8/13 — or a 62 percent chance (we’re just going to translate the odds into percentages so you don’t have to do the math). Masters of the Air star Turner is a bit behind with 25 percent. Disclosure Day star Josh O’Connor is at 13 percent. They’re followed by Richard Madden (11 percent), Jacob Elordi (7 percent) and O’Connell (8 percent).
For the next so-called “Bond girl” role, BetOnline has The Substance star Margaret Qualley at 33 percent, with Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney right behind at 25 percent. Sweeney is tied with Furiosa star Anya Taylor-Joy at 25 percent. Next comes Florence Pugh (17 percent), Zendaya (13 percent), Lauren Sánchez (5 percent) and Kate Winslet (4 percent). Several others names have around 3 percent odds, including Margot Robbie and Scarlett Johansson.
Of course, Bond movies tend to have more than one significant female character for Bond to partner or flirt with, so it’s entirely possible more than one actress from the oddsmakers list could be a Bond girl.
As for which artist will be chosen to write the next Bond movie’s theme song, Raye is tops with 50 percent implied chance, followed by Olivia Dean, Dua Lipa, Sienna Spiro, Lana Del Rey, Oasis and Lady Gaga.
In case you’re wondering about the prediction markets — which are a bit like bookmaking, but dumber — the top Kalshi pick for Bond is also Lowden, with 64 percent, followed by Turner (28 percent), O’Connor (19 percent), Idris Elba (9 percent), Barton (8 percent) and Robert Pattinson (7 percent).
Dune filmmaker Villeneuve is directing the next Bond outing, with Amy Pascal and David Heyman producing for Amazon MGM Studios.