One Confirmed Actor Earned a James Bond Audition — But Polymarket Doesn’t Think He Has a Shot

It came off a media faux pas when it leaked, and it seems that oddmakers agree.

One actor’s involvement in the search for the next James Bond leaked out earlier this year, and Polymarket seems to agree that he isn’t a top contendor for the role.

We’re referring to a May 16 Variety article titled, “James Bond Search: ‘Sunset Boulevard’ Star Tom Francis Auditions to Be Next 007 (EXCLUSIVE).” The article cited “a source with knowledge of the 007 search.”

I and others in the media found the story odd. These kinds of stories are expected when there is a true shortlist or an actor is in negotiations. An audition piece seems a bit like jumping the gun.

It seemed like a story a team would leak to get the actor in question in the public conversation for the role. A swell of support from 007 die-hards has not appeared, however.

While we love a good “almost got cast” story as trivia in hindsight, having this kind of story leak out there seems unfair to Francis, an accomplished stage actor known on-screen for the Netflix projects You and Jay Kelly.

If he doesn’t end up portraying the Ian Fleming’s iconic super spy — and Polymarket doesn’t think he will — it’ll come off as a misfire for a story like this to leak.

Polymarket has several A-list names as the most likely leading men for the Denis Villeneuve-directed James Bond flick: Tom Holland, Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Callum Turner, among others.

Turner is the current favorite with 31% odds, while there is also a 22% likelihood the casting is delayed until 2027. Francis is not among the listed options, which also includes lesser-known names like Jack Lowdon, Robert James-Collier and James Norton.

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