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It’s been almost two years since Daniel Craig bowed out of the James Bond franchise so spectacularly at the end of No Time To Die.
And as the joint Hollywood actors and writers strike continues it feels like it could be a while before we have a new 007 announcement.
Nevertheless, there’s been a huge shake-up in the bookies’ odds as Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy’s chances of being the Atomic Bond have been sliced by an incredible 90 per cent.
The 47-year-old star of Christopher Nolan’s new WW2 blockbuster, who could well win the Best Actor Oscar next year, has seen his odds cut from 50-1 to 5-1 to be the new 007.
This means the Irish Peaky Blinders actor is now the fifth favourite in Paddy Power’s odds to be the next Bond behind some other hot contenders.
The bookies Rachael Kane said: “The James Bond franchise is long overdue another Irish star – Piers Brosnan did a great job as 007, and with such a big shift in Cillian Murphy’s odds, we might finally get another Irishman in the role.”
Interestingly, Nolan himself is now odds on at 1-2 to direct the Bond reboot.
Paddy Power added: “A Nolan and Murphy link up would be explosive, to say the least and if he does get the role after Oppenheimer, Cillian will hope he doesn’t ‘bomb’ as the next Bond.”
Ahead of Murphy’s 5-1 to be the next Bond are Aaron Taylor-Johnson on 2-1, Henry Cavill on 5-2, Paapa Essiedu on 3-1 and James Norton on 7-2.
And not far behind the Oppenheimer star are also Regé-Jean Page on 11-2 and both Richard Madden and Tom Hardy on 9/1.
The Bond producers have made clear they’d be looking for an actor in their thirties, but if Nolan becomes involved as director perhaps he could persuade them to take on an older Bond like Murphy.
