One of the most famous roles in all of Hollywood is the martini-drinking, super model-loving, bad-guy-stopping James Bond. And the heir to the mantle after Daniel Craig is now up for grabs — along with a rich betting prize. Read this to get our prediction to become the next 007 James Bond!
As you’d expect, the futures markets at top entertainment betting sites are all over the place at the moment. The makers of the movie franchise are being very mum about who will succeed Craig. But oddsmakers have pegged the following actors as the current favorites:
Candidates | ||
---|---|---|
Henry Cavill | +225 | +225 |
Rege-Jean Page | +275 | +275 |
Tom Hardy | +400 | +400 |
James Norton | +425 | +425 |
Richard Madden | +425 | +425 |
Aiden Turner | +850 | +850 |
Best Bets To Play James Bond
As you saw above, there’s no shortage of James Bond betting candidates. And honestly, “putting all your eggs in one basket” is probably not the wise thing to do here. That’s why instead of offering one bet to play James Bond, we’ll be offering our take on several different betting favorites. We’re either going to say the said candidate is worth a wager or isn’t, which is the smart betting strategy to take with such a wide-open wager. Here’s how we’re approaching the bet:
Henry Cavill
The odds-on favorite is Cavill, who at one point almost became 007. He told a podcast that he and Craig were the two finalists to grab the role back in 2006. At the time, Cavill was only 33 years old, which would’ve made him the youngest Bond in franchise history. Alas, the role went to Craig and Cavill became a what-if before becoming Superman instead.
Cavill is now 39 years old — only one year older than Craig was when he starred in his first Bond movie. But we think the ship has sailed on Cavill. Not because of his age, but because of his strong association with Superman. It’s reasonable to believe a large portion of audiences won’t buy him as 007. It’s just two completely different roles and he’ll forever be tied to Clark Kent first. We’d say skip putting any money on Cavill in this bet.
Rege-Jean Page
We’ll go right ahead and say it: we’re betting on Page to take over the role. At 34 years old, he’s in the perfect age group to become Bond — not too young, not overly old. Bond is really a decade-plus long commitment since multiple sequels are part of the contract. That would give Page a good 16 years to film multiple movies before turning 50, which even then, isn’t that old.
Of course, we have to address the elephant in the room here: Page is black and Bond has never been played by a non-white guy. But that might actually be beneficial to Page’s betting chances. Let’s not kid ourselves, Hollywood is left-leaning, and rallies around “diversity” are commonplace. Page winning the role would earn “brownie points” with the media and a certain category of movie fans — all of which could financially benefit the movie, and that’s music to the ears of movie studios.
Tom Hardy
Let’s be real here: Hardy would make an incredible 007. He is British. He is one of the best actors in the entire business. He just looks like James Bond. But despite checking the boxes, we can’t see the movie’s producers giving him the role. Historically, they opt for a lead actor less known to the public, not an established star like Hardy.
Plus, Bond is a massive commitment for any actor. If Hardy opted for the role, that would mean a lot less time for non-Bond roles and we’re not sure Hardy is on-board with that. Hardy is too good of an actor to commit all his time and energy to a single franchise. We’d avoid any Hardy bets too.
James Norton
Norton has certainly proved his acting chops with a wide range of performances in less commercial films. Unlike a few of the previously-mentioned betting candidates, he isn’t a super well-known actor that is identified with other roles. We sense that helps Norton’s chances big time.
We’ll be placing a bet on Norton here because he’s the definition of a “safe” choice — for bettors and movie producers alike. He’s 37 years old. He’s tall and good-looking. He can act. He’s British. If he were to be cast, we can’t imagine much, if any, backlash. In a highly polarizing social climate, “safe” might just be what the Bond filmmakers want.
How To Bet On James Bond?
James Bond betting is typically not available on your standard physical sportsbook. However, you won’t struggle to find it available at offshore betting sites. Start with the ones featured in the table below. Per our latest sportsbook reviews, these sites are the “cream of the crop” and offer a bevy of entertainment-based betting like the next Bond.
You also stand to gain free play by joining one of the listed sites. Each sportsbook has a welcome bonus available to first-time bettors. We've detailed what bonus is available where in the below table. Pick one and boom, your Bond betting pick could be "on the house."
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