According to the news reports, the 43-year-old actor Tom Hardy is rumored to replace Daniel Craig after his fifth and final film, No Time To Die as the next James Bond

It’s been heard that after the successful audition Tom Hardy had been offered the iconic role. However, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the announcement will be made later this year or early 2021.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: ‘A flurry of bets over the past 24 hours suggests the cat is out the bag and it’s Tom Hardy that’ll soon be replacing Daniel Craig as 007.’

The venom star has refused to talk about the part in a fear that it will get him blacklisted. In an interview with Daily Beasts, he admitted that if he mentions it, he’ll lose it. He said that there is a saying among the actors that ‘if you talk about it you’re automatically out of the race’ so he cannot say anything about the movie.

The taboo actor was happy to show his support when he learned that the Inception director Christopher Nolan is keen to take over the 007 franchise. On which Hardy said that  ‘Wow, that would be cool. That would be so cool.’

The hunt for a new James bond began in 2016 when 50-year-old actor Daniel Craig admitted that he was over it. He said that he would rather break the glass and slit his wrist than to do another bond film.

Since the speculation began, James Norton, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, and even retired footballer David Beckham were mentioned as a possible replacement. 

In June it was confirmed that the release date for No Time To Die has been moved forward by two weeks and it will open on November 20 in the US. The movie was scheduled for release in April but it pushed back because of the Covid-19 pandemic.