Batman Auditioned for Bond: Pattinson and Hoult Join the 007 Race as Betting Markets Go Haywire
The search for the next James Bond took its sharpest turn yet when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that two of Hollywood's biggest stars had quietly screen-tested for the role. Robert Pattinson, 40, took part in auditions over the weekend of October 24 in London, and Nicholas Hoult, 36, tested as well, according to the report, which was corroborated by Variety and TheWrap. Amazon MGM Studios has declined to comment, and no casting announcement has been made.
The two names join three previously reported contenders: Callum Turner, Jack Lowden, and Josh O'Connor. That makes five known screen testers for the 26th Bond film, which Denis Villeneuve will direct from a script by Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders. Amy Pascal and David Heyman are producing. The film will be the first Bond entry since Amazon assumed creative control of the franchise from longtime custodians Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson in February 2025, and the first since Daniel Craig's run ended with No Time to Die in 2021.
The news landed around two weeks after the tests actually happened, which says something about how tightly Amazon has run this search. The search for Craig's successor officially began in May, according to NME, and for months the public conversation centered on a smaller group of lesser known British actors. The arrival of Pattinson and Hoult changes the shape of the race entirely, and it arrived in the same week that the betting markets built around the casting went haywire.
Why Pattinson changes the race
Pattinson's inclusion is surprising for a straightforward reason: he is already one of the most established leading men in Hollywood, and he already plays another iconic hero. He stars as Bruce Wayne in The Batman franchise and is currently working on The Batman Part II, with the Bond screen tests reportedly taking place in London while that production is underway.
That matters because the Bond role has historically been a star-making part rather than a star-collecting one. Sean Connery was a working actor when he was cast, and Daniel Craig, announced as Bond in October 2005, was a respected but not yet top-tier movie star before Casino Royale in 2006. Casting an actor who already carries a billion-dollar franchise would break that pattern, and it is the first thing fans argued about when the news broke: whether Bond needs a fresh face, or whether the franchise is big enough now to take an established star.
There is also a practical argument in Pattinson's favor, and it runs through the director. Pattinson has already worked with Villeneuve on the forthcoming Dune: Part Three, due for release on December 18, and their collaboration is said to have gone well, according to NME. A director who has already seen an actor handle a massive production up close is a director with fewer unknowns.
Hoult, and the Batman rematch
Hoult's candidacy carries its own twist. He was previously a runner-up to Pattinson for the role of Batman in the 2022 film, and the two men are now competing for the same part again, this time on the other side of the comic book divide. Hoult has extensive franchise experience of his own, having played Beast in the X-Men films and Lex Luthor in Superman, alongside an acclaimed performance in Nosferatu.
His case is the mirror image of Pattinson's. He is a recognizable face with leading-man credits, but he has not yet anchored a franchise as its title star. For a studio weighing whether to hand Bond to a proven commodity or to make a new star, Hoult sits in between: famous enough to open a movie, unproven enough to become Bond rather than to bring another character with him.
The other three, and the conflicting claims
Before Friday's report, the conversation had narrowed to the other three names, and the week produced a tangle of conflicting claims about them. Earlier in the week, Bond watchers suggested Turner had already secured the role after he was reportedly spotted attending a screen test at Bray Studios in Berkshire. A separate rumor claimed O'Connor had been cast, based on an account allegedly given by a colleague from his recent West End production of Golden Boy. One insider has claimed Turner has already been cast, but the new reporting suggests that may not be the case, according to Polygon.
Former Bond Pierce Brosnan has endorsed Turner, while Gary Oldman has backed his Slow Horses co-star Lowden, according to reports. Those endorsements are separate from any studio decision, which has yet to be announced, and the conflicting rumors are a reminder of how little is actually confirmed. Producer Amy Pascal has previously indicated only that the new Bond will be announced before the end of 2026.
"We are being really, really methodical," Pascal said, explaining the pace of the search. "I mean, Daniel Craig is a hard act to follow. And it's got to be something really different that is stirring, exciting and different."
The betting frenzy, and Hollywood's crackdown
The uncertainty has been good business for the betting markets, and that is where the story turns from casting gossip into an industry problem. Betting site BetOnline temporarily suspended wagers this week on who will portray the next Bond after a sudden flood of money poured in for Turner. The surge sent Turner soaring past longtime favorite Lowden, raising concerns that someone might have gotten wind of a closely guarded casting decision. The site's representative blamed the suspicious activity on "sharp money," prompting fears of a possible leak.
The Hollywood Reporter reported on Thursday that major studios and production companies are now rolling out strict new rules barring workers from using confidential information to cash in on prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket. The rules bar bets on unreleased casting decisions, studio earnings, production schedules, and movie release dates, and they forbid passing information to friends and family who might place bets on their behalf. At least one company has gone further, establishing an anonymous hotline where employees can report coworkers suspected of gambling on privileged information.
The crackdown is not limited to one studio. The Hollywood Reporter's parent company, PMC, which also owns Variety, Deadline, and Dick Clark Productions, has updated its employee handbook in recent weeks to ban prediction market betting, including on award nominations, casting decisions, production timelines, and release dates. "You now have, essentially, an explosion in the number of employers who have to think about insider trading rules from an ethical standpoint," Columbia University law professor Joshua Mitts told The Hollywood Reporter.
There are already examples of what the studios are worried about. In February, Kalshi revealed that a video editor employed by YouTube star MrBeast's company pocketed $5,000 by improperly wagering on confidential information about the creator's content. The employee was fired and hit with a $20,000 penalty. An April report from Puck exposed a worker connected to a CBS competition series who had allegedly been making money through prediction markets. Both Kalshi and Polymarket have said they are taking steps to combat insider trading, but Mitts warned that blockchain-based platforms can allow sophisticated users to conceal their identities, making suspicious wagers nearly impossible for employers to trace.
In a legal twist, federal law already explicitly prohibits futures contracts tied to movie box office receipts, a restriction dating back to the Onion Futures Act of 1958.
What happens next
For now, the casting search remains where it has been for months: five reported screen testers, no official announcement, and a studio declining to comment. Pascal's indication that the new Bond will be named before the end of 2026 gives the speculation a deadline, and Villeneuve is expected to turn his full attention to Bond once he wraps work on Dune: Part Three. The next Bond film still does not have a theatrical release date, and that is unlikely to change until the starring role is cast.
What Friday's report settled is that the search is wider, and stranger, than the public conversation had assumed. A Batman auditioning for Bond was not on anyone's list of likely developments, and the fact that it stayed secret for two weeks suggests Amazon's process is holding together. What it did not settle is who gets the part, and the betting markets, the conflicting insider claims, and the dueling endorsements will keep filling the gap until Amazon says otherwise.
