The news everybody had expected was confirmed earlier this week when No Time to Die was pushed back another six months to October, with Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as James Bond now arriving a full eighteen months behind schedule, and countless major releases have once again been delayed as the Coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of abating in the near future.
This marks the second longest gap between movies in the history of the franchise, but that hasn’t dampened the speculation about who could potentially become Craig’s successor as 007. Tom Hardy remains the favorite as he has been for years now, with Bridgerton‘s breakout star Regé-Jean Page the latest candidate to emerge, although one 007 expert believes that’s only down to the current popularity of Netflix’s smash hit show and talk will subside once the period drama fades from the public consciousness.
One actor that’s always been right in the mix, though, is Batman Begins and Inception star Cillian Murphy, and according to bookmakers Coral, his odds have drastically increased after Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight confirmed that the upcoming sixth season of the acclaimed crime thriller will be the last.
“Cillian Murphy’s time as Tommy Shelby is coming to an end, with the eagerly awaited sixth series of Peaky Blinders set to be the last. With the famous role of Bond coming up too after Craig’s final film, we’ve cut the odds on Murphy becoming the next 007. Tom Hardy’s been the favorite for a long time and is no doubt the leading contender in the race to replace Craig.”
Knight had always remained adamant that Peaky Blinders would run for seven seasons, and end with World War II reaching the Shelby family’s home turf of Birmingham. However, when revealing that season 6 will wrap up the story on the small screen, he admitted that the saga will continue in another form, so there’s every chance that a feature film could be in the works, one that may technically eliminate the leading man from the James Bond conversation depending on the schedule.