God of War Star's $250M James Bond Film Becomes a 2026 Sleeper Hit

2026 has been a busy year for Dave Bautista so far, who kicked things off by starring opposite Jason Momoa in the hit Prime Video crime thriller, The Wrecking Crew. The duo headlined the top movie on Prime Video streaming charts for weeks. Bautista then joined the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe thanks to his role as Tagah in the animated sequel film, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, which began streaming on Paramount Plus at the end of July after leaking online earlier this year. The most exciting news for Bautista this year, though, came when it was confirmed that he would play Kratos in Prime Video's God of War series. The role originally belonged to Ryan Hurst, who was recast when he suffered an injury that would have pushed production back months.

Best known for his role as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Bautista has joined the ranks of other actors like John Cena and Dwayne Johnson, who left WWE wrestling behind to pursue a career in Hollywood. One of Bautista's most notable roles came all the way back in 2015 when he teamed up with Daniel Craig for Spectre, the penultimate James Bond film in Craig's series of 007 movies. Bautista also features opposite Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, and Léa Seydoux in the film, which is absent from streaming at the time of writing, despite Amazon's blockbuster acquisition of the franchise. Still, this lack of a streaming home isn't stopping fans from rewatching Spectre in droves — fans are renting and purchasing the film on VOD platforms like Prime Video at such a high rate that it's returned to the global VOD top 10 in several countries.

Who Is Going To Play the Next James Bond?

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While Amazon has yet to officially confirm who will play the next James Bond, this announcement feels imminent as the studio has now narrowed it down to a few actors. Most fans seem to think that Jack Lowden, best known for his role in the Slow Horses series, is in line to take over the role of 007. It's also reported that Callum Turner and Jacob Elordi are on the short list to play the next Bond, along with Harris Dickinson and Paul Mescal.