James Bond Screen Tests 2026: Final 4 Reportedly Auditioning for 007

The search for Daniel Craig’s successor just entered its most decisive phase. According to new trade reporting, final James Bond screen tests 2026 begin this week in London, with four actors reportedly invited to audition for 007 — and three of the names are already public. After years of rumor, betting odds and tabloid shortlists, the next James Bond is about to be decided on camera.

Here is everything the reports actually say about the James Bond screen tests 2026: who is testing, when and where it happens, what the casting team is looking for, and — just as telling — who is reportedly not testing.

The Reported Screen Test Lineup

Deadline reports that Amazon MGM Studios sent out at least four invitations for the final James Bond screen tests 2026, and three of the names have been identified by insiders: Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O’Connor. The Hollywood Reporter independently names Lowden and Turner. The fourth invitee is, for now, a genuine mystery — no outlet has identified them, and Amazon MGM has declined to comment.

Jack Lowden

Lowden, 36, is the Scottish star of the espionage series Slow Horses, where he plays disgraced MI5 officer River Cartwright opposite Gary Oldman. That means he arrives with something no other finalist can offer: years of experience in spy tradecraft storytelling, including fieldwork sequences, interrogations and physical danger. His film credits include Dunkirk (2017) and Mary Queen of Scots (2018). He has been a fixture of Bond rumor lists for over a year, and back in September, his Slow Horses co-star Gary Oldman publicly mused that the choice may already be made — with his fingers crossed for Lowden.

Callum Turner

Turner, 36, broke through to American audiences as Major John “Bucky” Egan in the Second World War epic Masters of the Air, and has Fantastic Beasts franchise experience as Theseus Scamander. He has the classic leading-man build the role has historically favored, and he has handled the speculation with discipline — asked about Bond earlier this year at the Berlin International Film Festival, he reportedly said only that it was too early to comment.

Josh O’Connor

O’Connor, 36, won an Emmy for playing Prince Charles in The Crown and starred opposite Zendaya in Challengers (2024). The latter credit carries an intriguing wrinkle: Challengers was produced by Amy Pascal — who is now producing Bond 26. That is a prior professional relationship, not evidence of favoritism, but casting directors notice who delivers under pressure on a producer’s previous set.

Read Also: Bond 26: Everything We Know — Release Date, Director, Cast & News (2026)

When and Where the Tests Are Happening

Deadline‘s reporting puts the start of the final James Bond screen tests 2026 as early as Friday, October 23 in London, with sessions expected to run through the following week. The scheduling is deliberate: the tests were originally planned for earlier in the month but were pushed back so that all four finalists could be evaluated within the same window.

That matters more than it sounds. Screen tests for a franchise role of this scale are not simple auditions. They are structured evaluations run by casting director Nina Gold, alongside director Denis Villeneuve, producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman, and the creative team. The Hollywood Reporter says the tests will assess three things: stunt work, screen presence and dialogue — the three disciplines that define a working 007.

The footage produced over the coming days of the James Bond screen tests 2026 will be the material on which the final decision is made. Producer Amy Pascal said in August that news of the casting would likely come sooner rather than later — “the end of the year is a good bet.”

Who Is Reportedly NOT Testing

Sometimes the most revealing part of a shortlist is who is missing from it. The Hollywood Reporter states that two popular fan picks — Jacob Elordi and Jack O’Connell — did not receive invitations to this round of the James Bond screen tests 2026. That stands in sharp contrast to the October 21 newsletter rumor claiming Elordi’s casting was a near-done deal — a claim Amazon MGM has never confirmed, and which the studio’s own “we will not comment on casting details” position leaves entirely unverified.

Also absent from this round’s named finalists: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson and Jack Barton — all of whom appeared on earlier reported shortlists. Whether any of them is the mystery fourth tester is pure speculation for now.

Read Also: Is Jacob Elordi the New James Bond? What the Reports Actually Say

The Road to the Screen Tests: A Timeline

• 2021: Daniel Craig exits as 007 with No Time to Die. The role sits vacant for the longest gap in franchise history.
• September 2025: Deadline reports Denis Villeneuve wants a “fresh face” — a relatively unknown British male actor in his late 20s or early 30s.
• May 2026: Amazon MGM issues a rare public statement: “The search for the next James Bond is underway. While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.” Variety reports actor Tom Francis has auditioned.
• Spring–summer 2026: Casting director Nina Gold is brought in. After roughly two months of meetings, first-round auditions take place in August.
• August 26, 2026: Page Six reports a six-actor testing pool: Jack Barton, Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal and Harris Dickinson.
• October 2026: The field narrows to four final invitations. Tests are pushed from early October to late October for scheduling reasons.
• October 23, 2026: Final James Bond screen tests 2026 reportedly begin in London — Lowden, Turner and O’Connor named, plus one unidentified actor.

What the Lineup Tells Us About Villeneuve’s Bond

Look at the three confirmed names together in the James Bond screen tests 2026 and a pattern emerges: all 36 years old, all British, all serious actors with prestige-television credentials rather than established movie-star personas. That is consistent with Villeneuve’s reported “fresh face” brief — a Bond who arrives without the baggage of a defined screen image, the way Sean Connery and Daniel Craig both did.

Lowden is the most thematically on-the-nose choice — a spy veteran on screen. Turner offers the most conventional leading-man silhouette. O’Connor is the wildcard with the deepest acting pedigree and a working relationship with a Bond producer. The mystery fourth name is the variable that could upend every reading of the list.

Read Also: When Will the Next James Bond Be Announced?

Our Take

The fact that Amazon MGM is screen-testing at all — and publicly enough for Deadline, THR and TheWrap to be reporting the mechanics of the James Bond screen tests 2026 — is the real story here. The Broccoli era guarded casting like a state secret; this process is comparatively legible. That transparency is a choice, and it signals confidence: the studio wants the world watching when the next 007 walks out of that testing room.

On the names themselves emerging from the James Bond screen tests 2026: Lowden remains the most logical pick on paper. He is the only finalist who has spent years playing a working intelligence officer, and Villeneuve — a director who casts the part rather than the poster, from Dune‘s Timothée Chalamet to Arrival‘s Amy Adams — has a documented habit of valuing craft over fame. But O’Connor is the name that would make the most interesting Bond: an actor with genuine range who could redefine the role rather than inherit it.

The one thing we would not do is treat the mystery fourth name as a footnote. In casting processes this tightly controlled, the unnamed invitee is often the actual frontrunner — the name being protected while the known candidates absorb the media heat. If the reveal comes before the end of the year, as Pascal suggests, this week in London is where the next decade of 007 begins.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: CBR’s breakdown of the reported screen-test lineup and Far Out’s report on the final four.