Actor Jack Barton has reportedly emerged as a frontrunner to play James Bond, and his price has surged on Kalshi.
Barton is now priced as the favorite on the James Bond casting market at 34%, followed by Callum Turner at 32% and Jack Lowden at 25%.
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Jack Barton
Barton’s price surge comes as new reports have emerged about Director Villeneuve and casting director Nina Gold's search for the next Bond.
The New York Post’s Page Six Hollywood column reports that Barton, a lesser-known actor with a minor role in the 2023 Oscar-nominated film Poor Things and TV shows like SAS: Rogue Heroes and Heartstopper, is leading the cast race to play the super spy.
Page Six also reported that screen tests involving several of the better-known contenders are expected to begin in early September. Those names include Turner, Lowden, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal, and Harris Dickinson. Page Six also speculated that Elordi's recent Chanel commercial may have served as something of a “soft audition” for the role.
Barton may be a lesser-known name on the casting list, but he has an impressive resume. Along with his TV and movie roles, he also attended the Oxford School of Drama. He’s also repped by the same British publicist who works with Daniel Craig.
Amazon declined to comment on the rumors and referred to a previous statement that the studio is “excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.”
Jack Lowden
This isn’t the first time that a casting rumor has changed the trajectory of the James Bond market. Earlier this month, Lowden was the frontrunner for the role.
A previous Kalshi News report noted that British television presenter and podcaster Richard Osman said on his podcast The Rest is Entertainment with his co-host Marina Hyde that Lowden was "definitely being strongly considered" for the lead role in the next James Bond movie.
“Someone told me for definite who the new Bond is the other day, but, I mean, that’s happened before,” Osman said. “The name I’ve heard is Jack Lowden.”
Lowden plays MI5 agent River Cartwright on the Apple TV series Slow Horses. He’s also played prominent roles in TV dramas including War & Peace and The Passing Bells, and an RAF fighter pilot in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.
Other casting possibilities
A few months ago, traders predicted that Turner would be cast as the newest James Bond actor.
Kalshi News previously reported that Turner was asked about the Bond rumors in a Variety interview in May. Turner declined to comment on the casting rumors, saying “it’s very early for that question.”
Some of the other names on the list of possible James Bond actors include Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Henry Ashton.
The takeaway:
Kalshi markets now predict:
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