All 007 bets are on

AIDAN Turner

Daniel Craig continues to swear that he’d rather cut his wrists than play James Bond again on the big screen. Is it just a career move to increase his talent fee?

Time is a-ticking in the hugely profitable and expensive blockbuster filmmaking field, so producers aren’t twiddling their thumbs to find out.

They’re scouting around for Craig’s best and younger replacement, and all ambitious comers are very interested. After all, the first James Bond, Sean Connery, became a big star right after his first Agent 007 saga was shown.

He went on to star in many more spy capers—until he couldn’t take it anymore, as well. But, he had become even a big stellar draw that producers continued to cast him in lead roles.

Even after he had slipped into his senior years, he was cast in textured character roles that sustained his thespic reputation.

Craig hasn’t made as many Bond films, but the franchise has been good for his career, too.

So, like Connery, he should keep getting offers to play lead characters—unlike some other post-Connery players like George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. But, who will replace him?

Months ago, the show biz scuttlebutt was that Tom Hiddleston was a frontrunner in the “race to replace.”

He was favored for playing Loki in Marvel screen epics like the “Thor” movies, as well as other star turns in “I Saw the Light,” “Out of Darkness,” “The Pirate Fairy” and “Crimson Peak.”

Recently, however, the tide appears to have turned, with Hiddleston now more in the news for being Taylor Swift’s latest squeeze.

He’s been upstaged as a Bond comer by Aidan Turner, who became popular as Kili in the fantasy film series, “The Hobbit.” He also starred as John Mitchell in the TV drama series, “Being Human.”

What makes Turner such a popular choice? Aside from his rough, tough looks and visual “cred” as an action hero, his relative youth is deemed to be an exciting new take on the “old” format that should win the next Bond movie many new adherents—and similarly youthful empathizers.

Indeed, the youth factor could be the long-running film franchise’s ticket to at least another additional decade of popularity.

But the franchise’s producers have to be really careful about not losing its resident hero’s appeal as a worldly-wise expert.

Other actors being considered for the plum James Bond assignment include Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill, Michael Fassbender and Luke Evans.

Elba is a “revolutionary” prospect to play the world’s most acclaimed secret agent because he would be the first non-WASP to play the role.

Would the long-running film franchise’s fans “accept” him? A factor working in his favor is the currently “in” fad for “color-blind” casting. Way to go. And, all bets are on!