No Time to Die is clearly still a big deal having recently passed Fast & Furious 9 at the global box office to become the highest-grossing Hollywood movie released since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019, but talk has long since turned to the identity of the next 007.
The usual suspects are always part of the James Bond conversation, a list that includes Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Richard Madden and the rest, but a couple of intriguing new contenders have recently become part of the rumor mill. Bridgerton‘s breakout star Regé-Jean Page was the front-runner for a while, but multiple betting websites have now placed The Umbrella Academy‘s Tom Hopper at the head of the pack.
Speaking to We Got This Covered ahead of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City‘s release this coming Wednesday, Hopper addressed the speculation, but it doesn’t sound as though he’s reading too much into it.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that and that’s…. that’s all I’ve heard. I mean, any British actor will be lying if they say that James Bond wasn’t up there as a dream role. So, you know, it’s very nice to be in that conversation, you know, among betting websites….”
At 36 years old, standing six feet four inches and boasting an absolutely shredded physique, if the next iteration of James Bond is being designed as a sh*t-kicking powerhouse that still possesses plenty of charm and natural charisma, then you’d have to say there are few candidates better qualified than Hopper given that he ticks plenty of boxes you’d look for in a marquee action hero.