Robert Pattinson Likely to Be the Next James Bond, Says Puck’s Matt Belloni

Everybody's tired of the Bond casting circus. I'm tired of it, you're tired of it, but the end might finally be near. Matt Belloni over at Puck has some fresh reporting, and he now believes Robert Pattinson will be the guy.

The finalists are Nicholas Hoult, Jack Lowden, Josh O'Connor, Pattinson and Callum Turner. Belloni says an announcement could come before Christmas if nothing goes wrong. The most interesting nugget is about the test deals.

Three sources tell him the contracts weren't all the same. O'Connor and Lowden reportedly had to commit to four Bond films if they got the part. Pattinson, who’s a busy bee with auteurs, got that down to three, and he's getting a lot more money than the others. Belloni also hears Pattinson's deal was so hard to close that some people involved wondered why the filmmakers would even bother unless they really wanted him.

Another telling detail is that Pattinson and Hoult were brought in late in the process. Like, very late. Why bring in established stars at the eleventh hour if you're already happy with the less famous guys?

There's history here too. According to Belloni, Barbara Broccoli liked Pattinson for Bond back when "No Time to Die" was gearing up. Then he got Batman and she moved on. Well, the Broccolis are gone now.

It's not hard to see why Amazon would want Pattinson. No franchise is bulletproof anymore. Amazon paid $8.5 billion for MGM with Bond as the crown jewel. Even Jeff Bezos is tweeting about the casting. This movie has to work, and Pattinson brings an audience with him. With "The Batman: Part II" now pushed to February 2028 after Matt Reeves' troubles, Belloni suspects this could be Pattinson's last time in the cape. So much for the trilogy Reeves originally had planned.

I'll be honest with you, part of me wishes Villeneuve would go with a lesser-known name. That's always been the right call for this franchise. However, the fact that Pattinson agreed to test at all tells you he wants this. It's Villeneuve's call in the end, but Belloni seems pretty convinced Pattinson is the man for the job.