Danny Boyle Names Jack O’Connell as His Pick for Next James Bond

The race to become the next James Bond has produced just about every British actor under 40 as a potential candidate, but one filmmaker who very nearly made a 007 movie of his own has now thrown his support behind a particularly interesting contender. Danny Boyle has officially named one of the best actors working today as the man he'd like to see inherit the tuxedo from Daniel Craig.

Boyle, who was originally hired to direct Craig's final Bond movie before leaving the project over creative differences, revealed Jack O'Connell as his choice for the next 007.

“They should cast Jack O’Connell as Bond.”

O'Connell certainly fits the profile traditionally associated with the role, having spent years moving between indies and major studio productions, with credits including Unbroken, '71, Ferrari, Sinners and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. At 36, he's also young enough to potentially commit to the kind of long-term run Amazon MGM Studios will presumably want.

Danny Boyle Nearly Directed Daniel Craig's Final James Bond Movie

The Oscar-winning director of Slumdog Millionaire was officially announced as the director of Bond 25 in 2018, working from a screenplay by John Hodge, but his version ultimately fell apart before cameras started rolling. Boyle departed over creative differences, and he subsequently revealed that his proposed movie would have taken Bond to Russia.

The film ended up being redesigned as No Time to Die, with Cary Joji Fukunaga directing Craig's fifth and final outing as 007. The film saw Craig's Bond killed off in controversial fashion having sacrificed himself for, gasp, his loved ones. While divisive, it did give the franchise an unusually clean opportunity to completely reinvent the character with whoever comes next.

Ironically, Boyle did actually direct Craig as James Bond in Happy and Glorious, the iconic short made for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, which famously saw Bond arrive at Buckingham Palace to collect Queen Elizabeth II — playing herself — before the pair parachuted together into the Olympic Stadium.

Amazon MGM Studios assumed creative control of the Bond franchise in 2025, with longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson stepping back. Denis Villeneuve has since been tapped to direct the next installment, while Steven Knight is writing the screenplay.

The next James Bond movie does not yet have an official release date.