The news that Amazon MGM Studios are now casting the next James Bond has the showbusiness world shaken and stirred – and I can reveal the name of the actor who the writer of the next film thinks would be perfect for the role.
Steven Knight, who made his name with Peaky Blinders, thinks James Norton has what it takes to play 007. He wrote the part of the ‘new Bond’ with the Happy Valley star in mind.
Some years ago, Norton was at the forefront of the ‘Next Bond’ conversations, but recently people have concentrated on younger actors like Callum Turner, Harris Dickinson and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
However, at 40, Norton is only two years older than Daniel Craig was when he was cast – so he could happily sign up to make 15 years of Bond films, as Craig did.
Like Craig, his has been largely a TV and theatre career up to this point.
I’m told producers David Heyman and Amy Pascal – who will make the final decision, along with director Denis Villeneuve – want the next Bond to be someone who does not have a big international movie profile already.
That will count against Harris Dickinson, who’ll be globally famous after starring as John Lennon in the forthcoming Beatles films; and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who has been in a number of big films.
It might also rule out Australian actor Jacob Elordi who, thanks to Frankenstein and Euphoria, is arguably just too ‘big’ already.
Happy Valley star James Norton pictured at the HBO Max Launch Party in London in March
Bonds tend not to be big stars before assuming 007 status – like the last James Bond, played by Daniel Craig (pictured)
Bonds tend not to be big stars… before assuming 007 status.
Sean Connery wasn’t really known before Bond, and George Lazenby had never acted outside of TV commercials. Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan were TV stars, but not movie stars.
Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig did a lot of character actor work before their big breaks.
Norton is best known for Happy Valley, in which he played the psychopath Tommy Lee Royce, and was also the lead in War And Peace and McMafia. He’s also playing Beatles manager Brian Epstein in the forthcoming Sam Mendes films.
Casting director Nina Gold was in Cannes last week, attending the A Rabbit’s Foot party at seafood restaurant Fred L’Ecailler, hosted by Charles Finch.
That was an enchanted evening, with music from the Gypsy Kings and a host of famous directors including James Gray, Diego Luna and Whit Stilman. Gold was giving nothing away, aside from the fact that the next Bond actor needed to ‘ooze sex appeal’.
She has been at lots of first nights recently and there is speculation she’s been taking a look at rising stars such as Luke Thompson, David Shields and Tom Francis.
Denis Villeneuve will review her suggestions this autumn, and he gets to make the final call – with the blessing of the producers.
You would expect Gold to also consult with the scriptwriter, so she can match his vision… but this piece of casting will not be Knight’s decision, ultimately.
Speaking in Cannes, he told Screen International that it will be a back to basics interpretation.
‘Bond has been bulletproof. People have been able to make mistakes and variations and the character has survived, because the core is like a diamond, you can’t touch it. The person you are talking about is from folklore.’
One friend is distressed by the idea of Bond going to bookie’s favourite Callum Turner, telling me: ‘It wouldn’t be fair if he got to date Dua Lipa and be Bond.’
But who said life was fair…
Why the Fassbenders are now fluent in Alien-speak
Michael Fassbender, who plays an alien invader in the Cannes film Hope, joked ‘They walk among us!’ when asked if he believed in extra-terrestrials.
He and wife Alicia Vikander had to master a made-up language based on ancient Mongolian, and taught by two linguists, for the movie.
Vikander, who is Swedish but acts in English, indicated that this wasn’t a problem for her. Probably not for her husband, either, given that he is bilingual, thanks to his German father and Irish mother.
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander at Cannes Film Festival on Monday
Fans give festival a resounding ‘Bof’
Le Flop, Part I
There’s no one quite like Sharon Stone, and the actress worked hard to get some vibes going during a charity auction in Cannes this week, urging guests to turn to the person next to them, hug them – and tell them that they cared.
‘Hug that man!’ she commanded on Monday night at the Better World dinner, held at waterfront venue Copal Beach.
She and jury member Demi Moore have been the biggest names on the Croisette, in what even their most devoted fans would admit has been a muted festival. Or a bit ‘bof’, as they say here (that’s French for ‘meh’).
I hear from friends that Stone hasn’t ruled out the possibility of moving to the South of France permanently, and has house-hunted in the region for some time, without finding the perfect place.
There’s a big Hollywood contingent in Paris, led by Natalie Portman and including Sophia Coppola, Zoe Saldana and Christian Bale, who have second homes in the city.
More recently, Sean Penn has been spending time there.
And rocker Lenny Kravitz and director Wes Anderson are also honorary Parisians. But none of them came to Cannes!
Sharon Stone waved to the crowd at the screening of Fjord at Cannes Film Festival this week
Le Flop, Part II
More ‘bof!’ shrugging in Cannes, this time from the critics.
The movies chosen to compete for the Palme D’Or have failed to set the festival alight, to say the least.
On an aggregated panel in Screen International, featuring ratings out of five stars (with five being ‘magnifique’ and one being ‘bof’) from a dozen international critics, many movies are getting two, or even one.
Languishing at the bottom of the table, at present, is Sheep In The Box, about a humanoid robot, which managed a score of 1.4.
The only offering to be even moderately liked is Pawel Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, which has 3.3 stars. The big hit so far is Club Kid, by Instagram
star Jordan Firstman, which tells the story of a washed-up party promoter who has to grow up when he’s forced to take care of a son he didn’t know he had.
That has been sold to the indie studio A24 for $17million and was shown out of competition.
Nicola drops lawsuit against ‘chihuahua killer’ groomers
Nicola Peltz Beckham has dropped her two-year battle against the dog groomers she accused of killing her beloved chihuahua Nala.
The actress and wife of Brooklyn Peltz Beckham filed a lawsuit against HoundSpa LLC, its owner Deborah ‘Deb’ Gittleman, and groomer Jony Ceballos in July 2024.
She said Nala (pictured with her) had been ‘happy and healthy’ when she went for a groom, but died later after collapsing in distress.
In Nicola’s lawsuit, filed by Marty Singer (known in Hollywood circles as a ‘legal pit bull’), she called Ceballos’ conduct ‘severe and outrageous’ and said her dog ‘was in serious physical distress with her lungs full of water, chest pulsating and hyperventilating’ after a routine groom.
Despite being rushed to the vets, Nala died within hours.
The lawsuit adds: ‘It was only after Nala’s tragic death that Nicola understood that, upon information and belief, Ceballos was also apparently responsible for the death of her dog, Frankie, in 2022.
Pictured: Nicola Peltz Beckham with her beloved chihuahua, Nala
‘In the summer of 2022, Nicola had used HoundSpa to groom her French bulldog, named Frankie. Ceballos was the groomer whom HoundSpa sent for Frankie’s grooming.
‘Upon returning from his grooming with Ceballos, Frankie was in visible physical distress, repeatedly stumbling as if he had been sedated.
‘Nicola cried, and cared for her dog – not at that time suspecting that an individual charged with caring for her dog would have hurt him.’
According to Peltz Beckham, another dog, Angel, still suffers from trauma after being groomed by Ceballos ‘and has developed a fear of being left in a room alone’.
Documents signed earlier this month at the New York Supreme Court indicate that all parties have now agreed to discontinue the lawsuit without paying costs, expenses or legal fees to each other.
Anthony J. Siano, the lawyer for Houndspa and owner Gittleman, confirmed the matter was settled. ‘The civil litigation involving the passing of Ms. Peltz Beckham’s dog, Nala, has been discontinued.
‘All parties to that civil action have exchanged extensive documentation; and all parties concluded the death of Nala was not intentional.’
Siano added: ‘All persons involved in the matter share the grief and disappointment that comes from the passing of Nala.’
The Detectorists will be reunited! Actor Mackenzie Crook is to make his film directing debut in a movie about British science hero Colin Pillinger and his work on the Mars lander mission Beagle 2. Toby Jones will star as Professor Pillinger.
The project, titled Mars Express, is one of a number being sold in Cannes this week.
Mackenzie Crook (left) as Andy Stone and Toby Jones (right) as Lance Stater in the BBC television series Detectorists
Everyone has been on the lookout for the cast of The White Lotus, as series four has started shooting, with some of the storyline set at the Cannes Film Festival.
Actress AJ Michalka was spotted filming late at night on the Croisette, looking anxious in evening wear and pretending she was on her way to a party.
A micro-controversy this week over the baggy pants worn by party animal Woody Harrelson in the bar of the Majestic Hotel one night.
Harrelson was in Cannes to promote the film Full Phil, which is in the Official Selection category.
Some swear that he was wearing pyjamas made of…hemp. The actor is a prominent cannabis rights activist and industrial hemp advocate.
Others insist they were merely ‘linen lounge pantalons’.