Auditions to cast the new James Bond have finally opened five years after the famed spy's last outing on the big screen.

Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 in No Time To Die in 2021 was a critical and box office success, but fans of the spy have been left desperately waiting for news on who might replace him.

That announcement has been delayed after the Broccoli family, which held an iron grip on the franchise for decades, handed over creative control to Amazon MGM Studios. 

The production company, which was formed when Amazon bought MGM in 2022, has been quiet on who might fill Craig's boots, but it has teased there will be 'exciting 007 news' in the coming months. 

In a statement revealing it was now auditioning actors for the role, Amazon MGM Studios said: 'The search for the next James Bond is underway. 

'While we don't plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we're excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.'

In the last half a decade there has been a lot of speculation about who may be the perfect candidate to be the new 007, with a host of familiar names rising to the top time and time again.

A collection of well established stars, younger talents and out-of-left-field suggestions are currently top of the bookmakers odds to become the seventh James Bond.

Callum Turner is the current bookies' frontrunner according to Odds Checker.

The 36-year-old has been in the Harry Potter spin-off franchise Fantastic Beasts as Theseus Scamander and earned a BAFTA nomination for his lead role in BBC thriller The Capture.

He's starred in Apple TV's Masters Of The Air and worked under George Clooney's direction in The Boys In The Boat. Turner is also engaged to pop singer Dua Lipa.

Next in line is Harris Dickinson - the 29-year-old due to play John Lennon in the forthcoming Beatles biopics.

After beginning his career in British independent films and TV he later moved to major projects including Triangle Of Sadness, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil and The King's Man.

He also starred opposite Nicole Kidman in Babygirl and received a BAFTA TV Award nomination for A Murder At The End Of The World.

Australian Jacob Elordi follows, after rising to fame in teen romance The Kissing Booth and then moving on to the hit show Euphoria alongside stars Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney. He also starred in Saltburn and Priscilla.

He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and most recently starred in the steamy romance film Wuthering Heights alongside Margot Robbie. 

Also in the top group is Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who has had plenty of admirers for the role over the years. 

After years as a child star, he broke through as an adult in Kick-Ass in 2010, and has since gone on to star in a host of franchises including Godzilla, Marvel's Avengers: Age Of Ultron and 28 Years Later.

He won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in thriller Nocturnal Animals and has taken on roles Nosferatu and Wewulf in recent years, both of which were directed by horror filmmaker Robert Eggers.

Theo James is the next top runner after rising to fame in the Divergent series and Downton Abbey. He has also won praise for his work in The White Lotus and Guy Ritchie's gangster series The Gentlemen.

One slightly out-of-left-field contender is Jack O'Connell, who has risen in the rankings since his villainous performance in Oscar-winning film Sinners.

The 35-year-old started out in teen drama Skins before winning acclaim for his performances in Starred Up and '71, and then moving on to collaborate with Angelina Jolie in Second World War film Unbroken.

And it wouldn't be a James Bond shortlist without Henry Cavill, who famously auditioned for the role in 2006 only to lose out to Craig.

Since then he has earned himself a loyal fanbase, as well as starring in some of the biggest films and TV shows of the decade, including playing Superman in Man Of Steel and Geralt in Netflix's The Witcher.

Not one to avoid the spy genre despite his disappointment at losing out, he has also appeared in Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Guy Ritchie's The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

While the lead role is yet to be filled, the next film's director has been selected as Dune's director Denis Villeneuve. Peaky Blinders' Steven Knight has also been chosen to pen the script. 

But Bond fans will have to wait another two years before 007 is back on the big screen, marking the longest gap between movies in the franchise's 64-year history.

The super spy is no stranger to a lengthy hiatus - with a six-year hiatus between 1989's Licence To Kill, the final Timothy Dalton film, and 1995's GoldenEye, the first to star Pierce Brosnan.

But with the leading actor still to be recast, a rumoured 2028 spring release means audiences will have waited a whopping seven years.

A source said: 'Bond won’t be back until 2028. The production mindset’s gone from "let’s hurry this through" to "make sure we get this right".

'Denis wanted a long break after Dune 3 and has some broad ideas on the script. Steven will get on with drafts before they map out the final version. That’ll take at least the whole summer.'

They told The Sun: 'Realistically, if they can make January 2027 work for pre-production, then that will be a success. The principal photography will run until the summer and the film always takes around nine months to a year to edit.'

Bookies' predictions on who will play Bond are changing by the day, with Elordi one of the most recent favourites due to his smouldering role in the romance Wuthering Heights.

The Daily Mail have contacted Amazon MGM for comment.