Aaron Taylor-Johnson's chances of being unveiled as the next actor to play James Bond have taken a hit this week, according to new data.
Despite reports emerging earlier this year to claim a deal was done and dusted for the 34-year-old to step into 007's shoes, there has still been no official confirmation from Bond bosses at Eon Productions.
Taylor-Johnson has similarly swerved from providing committal answers on the possibility, telling Rolling Stone earlier this year: "I can only really talk about the things I’m going to show and tell."
He added: "I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me. I feel like: whatever’s drawn out for me, I can f*****g do better."
Despite cold water being poured on the reports, Taylor-Johnson has remained a frontrunner for the role for most of 2024, seeing off the likes of Henry Cavill, James Norton, Rege-Jean Page and other big names with bookmakers.
But there are now signs that could be about to change and the tide may be turning on Taylor-Johnson's chances, GB News has learned.
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Rather than being an odds-on certainty, Taylor-Johnson's odds of being crowned the next James Bond have drifted.
The Kick-Ass star attracted odds of 4/5 recently but it's now been revealed that these have drifted way out to 2/1.
While this still positions him as the favourite for the part, fairbettingsites.co.uk spokesman Andy Newton, told GB News about the shift in Taylor-Johnson's appeal.
He said: "It wasn’t too long ago that Aaron Taylor-Johnson was odds-on in the ‘Next James Bond’ market - however, in recent days his price has been ‘shaken and certainly stirred’ being as big as 2/1 now.
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"This latest move suggests the oddsmakers are wavering on Taylor-Johnson landing the 007 role that most thought he was a shoo-in for.
"In contrast, next Bond regulars in the betting Henry Cavill, Damson Idris, Rene-Jean Page and James Norton all remain steady in the market just behind Taylor-Johnson.
"(However), past fancies Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba are no longer in the running at double-figure prices."
The betting expert went on to surmise: "With this latest drift at the head of the market, I’d not be shocked to see a new betting front-runner emerge in the coming weeks as we draw closer to an announcement."
Fans of Taylor-Johnson needn't worry too much by this latest blow to his odds as he still has a 33.3 percent chance of bagging the role, according to the data.
This lands him in a better position than his closest opposition in Cavill at 7/2 and Idris at 9/2.
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They're then closely followed by Norton and Page who are priced at 5/1 and 6/1 respectively.
Sadly for Hiddleston and Elba, they'll need a seismic shift in the market to stand any chance of looking like a possible Craig replacement.
Hiddleston has drifted all the way out to 33/1 while Elba is slightly nearer the top of the market at 16/1.
Elsewhere, Tom Hardy fetches odds of 9/1, Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy can be backed at 10/1, The Gentleman's Theo James is at 14/1 and Benedict Cumberbatch is propping up the market at 100/1.
