Josh O’Connor Reportedly Turns Down the Role of James Bond

Morning News · Wednesday 11 November 2026

Josh O’Connor has turned down the chance to be the next James Bond, according to a Daily Mail report. Also this morning: Freddy Krueger’s two-studio tug of war is over, with Warner Bros.’ rival A Nightmare on Elm Street dropped; a gothic werewolf play heads for the screen; Peacemaker’s Elliot Frances Flynn leads psychic horror Not Herself; The Black Demon returns; and the VisionQuest finale is Out Now on Disney+.

The News That Matters

Update: Josh O’Connor has reportedly turned down the role of James Bond

• What’s new: A source told the Daily Mail last night that O’Connor “has turned down the Bond role”. Amazon MGM Studios has not commented, and nothing has been announced
• What he said: At a screening of the National Theatre’s Golden Boy last week, O’Connor said of playing 007: “No, no, no. We’ll see but I doubt it”, adding that he is doing “something in January” and will then take some time out
• Who is still in the frame: Deadline and Variety reported that Callum Turner, Jack Lowden, Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult also screen-tested for director Denis Villeneuve and producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman. Deadline says a decision is widely expected by the end of this month; Pascal has said “the end of the year is a good bet”
• UK availability: No casting has been confirmed. Steven Knight is writing Bond 26, which is expected to film in 2027; no release date has been set

If the report is right, the field narrows to four of the five actors said to have tested. O’Connor first called the speculation a “bizarre pinch me moment”, as we reported in our 3 November Evening News, and Villeneuve stopped just short of naming his choice. For why 007 still matters so much, read our feature on the two pillars of British entertainment.

Freddy’s studio battle is over as Warner Bros.’ rival A Nightmare on Elm Street is dropped

• What’s new: Warner Bros.’ competing A Nightmare on Elm Street film, which had Evil Dead Rise director Lee Cronin in talks to write and direct, is no longer going ahead, Dread Central reports. Paramount Primal’s version is now the only new Elm Street film in development
• Why: Paramount licensed the US rights from the Wes Craven estate in July, for a film drawing on Craven’s original 1984 screenplay, while Warner held the international rights and wanted to get its own film made first. Paramount completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on 6 October, bringing both projects under one roof
• Who’s making it: Iya Labunka, Jonathan Craven and Marc Toberoff produce, with Paramount Primal’s J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules as executive producers. Paramount has said the film is “set in the world of A Nightmare on Elm Street, based on the original screenplay”, rather than a straight remake. No writer, director or cast has been named
• UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed

One Freddy is better than two, and having Craven’s family in charge of where his creation goes next is the most reassuring part of this. For more nightmares in the meantime, our definitive horror guide has plenty to stream.

Gothic werewolf play Wolf at the Door becomes a horror film

• What’s new: Concord Originals, the film and TV arm of music and theatre company BMG, is turning Marisela Treviño Orta’s stage play Wolf at the Door into a supernatural gothic horror film, Variety reported. Argentine director Agustina San Martín (Psyche, with Noah Jupe and Isabela Merced) directs, and Treviño Orta writes the screenplay
• The story: In 19th-century New Mexico, on the eve of giving birth to her first child, a young woman foresees the return of a deadly half-man, half-wolf creature, only to discover that another predator already shares the hacienda she calls home
• Who’s making it: Sophia Dilley and Charles Hopkins produce. The play is part of Treviño Orta’s trilogy inspired by Latin American folklore and the Brothers Grimm. Casting is under way
• UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed

A werewolf tale rooted in Latin American folklore, with a second, human predator in the house, gives this a richer setting than the usual full-moon fare.

Peacemaker’s Elliot Frances Flynn and Michael Paré star in psychic horror Not Herself

• What’s new: Elliot Frances Flynn (Peacemaker, Only Murders in the Building) and Michael Paré (Streets of Fire, Bad Moon) lead Not Herself, a supernatural horror that has just wrapped filming in New York, Variety reported
• The story: Flynn plays Izmarie, a guilt-ridden young woman haunted by a tragic accident, who moves into a sprawling old house and starts giving psychic readings. As her visions grow more prophetic and menacing, she begins to suspect something inside the house is speaking through her. Paré plays Reverend Charles Weathers, “a threatening presence” in her new life
• Who’s making it: Husband-and-wife team Jon Russell Cring and Tracy Nichole Cring wrote and directed it
• UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed

Paré is a welcome horror face, and a haunted house that talks through its new tenant is a neat twist on the possession story.

First look: the shark is back for The Black Demon: Atlantis

• What’s new: A first-look image has been released for The Black Demon: Atlantis, the sequel to the 2023 shark horror The Black Demon, Bloody Disgusting reported
• The story: Undercover DEA agent Jerry Simms (Jack Kesy, Hellboy: The Crooked Man) arrives at Atlantis, a remote maximum-security prison in the Pacific run by the enigmatic Warden Reyes (Vanesa Restrepo), after a fellow agent vanishes while investigating inmate deaths. As mutilated bodies surface, the legendary Black Demon tears into the prison
• Who’s making it: Cinematographer Carmen Cabana directs, from a script she wrote with Aaron Benjamin and Boise Esquerra. Harold Torres, Julio César Cedillo and Anthony Del Negro also star
• UK availability: No release date yet; UK date not yet confirmed

A giant shark loose in an offshore prison is exactly the kind of high-concept premise this sub-genre thrives on.

Update: The VisionQuest finale, “Forever”, is Out Now on Disney+

• What’s new: Episode 8, “Forever”, the series finale of Marvel Television’s VisionQuest, is Out Now on Disney+. Paul Bettany, James Spader and Emily Hampshire joined showrunner Terry Matalas at the finale screening in New York
• Also out: The VisionQuest Official Podcast, with Bettany, Spader, Ruaridh Mollica and Matalas, is on Disney+ and Marvel’s YouTube channel
• UK availability: All eight episodes are streaming now on Disney+

If you have not started it yet, now is the perfect time: all eight episodes are waiting on Disney+, so you can binge the whole series from the first episode to the last without waiting a week. We have followed it since its final stretch began, and the finale promo teased one final surprise. No spoilers here.

Who do you want to see as the next James Bond? Tell us below.

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