Who Will Be the Next James Bond?

The search is on for the sixth man to portray James Bond, Britain's most famous secret agent, following in the footsteps of PIERCE BROSNAN, TIMOTHY DALTON, ROGER MOORE, GEORGE LAZENBY and the man who originated the character in 1962, SEAN CONNERY. But is Pierce completely out of the picture?

With such titles as 'Goldeneye,' 'Tomorrow Never Dies' and 'Die Another Day' with HALLE BERRY, Pierce reinvigorated the 007 franchise with some of the best box office business ever. But contract negotiations reportedly went south between the actor and Bond producers for his fifth outing, and the filmmakers formally announced that "no decision has been made regarding the casting of the role of James Bond" for the 21st Bond movie, 'Casino Royale.'

At a premiere in April, DAME JUDI DENCH, who plays Bond's boss, M, in the series, proclaimed that Pierce would absolutely be returning to Her Majesty's Secret Service. But then in a later interview she changed her tune, reportedly telling a Seattle paper, "All I know is that I'm going to be in it. I don't know if it's Pierce, or someone else. Every young actor around has been mentioned."

Some of those actors whose names have been bandied about to don the 007 tux include JUDE LAW, EWAN McGREGOR, COLIN FARRELL, ERIC BANA ('Troy'), IOAN GRUFFUDD ('Fantastic Four'), DOUGRAY SCOTT ('Mission: Impossible 2'), HUGH JACKMAN and most recently "ER" doc GORAN VISNJIC, who was rumored to have screen-tested for the part. There's even been talk of doing a "young Bond" movie series to coincide with the recent release of Silverfin, which chronicles the character's formative teen years, with ORLANDO BLOOM a prime casting candidate.

At age 52, Pierce himself said in an interview recently that he believes himself to be too old for the role, and even endorsed 'Sin City' star CLIVE OWEN in a Time magazine Q&A. But Clive, who has been in the running ever since he put on a tux in 1998's 'Croupier,' has kept his cards close to his vest.

"That's all it is -- talk, talk, talk," Clive tells ET. "It circulates in the tabloids; there's no foundation for it. I've never been approached. I've never even talked to anybody about it. All I know is that I'm pretty booked up for the next year or so. I've got no problem being associated with it, but it is just rumor."

The same goes for 'Layer Cake' star DANIEL CRAIG, who recently became a frontrunner in the tabloid speculation race. "I just got very strange messages on my phone -- it's the first I've heard about it," he tells ET, "so it's a nice position to be in, to be considered, but that's it, as far as I know, for the moment."

"It's a very enticing prospect, Bond," adds GERARD BUTLER ('Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera'), whose name has been thrown in the ring. "I grew up with Bond. He's the guy, he's the dude, the movies are great, and I'd be a great Bond -- but other than that, it's just rumors."

All anyone knows for sure at this point is that Kiwi director MARTIN CAMPBELL, the man who ushered in the Brosnan era with 'Goldeneye' in 1995, will helm 'Casino Royale.' Based on 007 creator IAN FLEMING's first-ever Bond novel, which was published in 1953 (and originally made as a Bond spoof in 1967 with PETER SELLERS, DAVID NIVEN and WOODY ALLEN), the film is scheduled to begin production in January and slated for release in fall 2006.

Como ya dije en el foro del Dr. Zeuss para mi el 007 perfecto es CLIVE OWEN por que el aparte de ser muy buen actor tiene ese feeling de súper agente y también de gustanini...mucha gente dice que debería ser JUDE LAW pero para mi jude no tiene ese toque de 007...

También me entere en el foro de que tarantino le gustaría dirigir la película...pero como que los creadores y productores no tan en eso...a ver que pasa porque seria interesante ver a james bond dirigida por el auque se vea difícil.


Qué dicen niños?