James Bond Writer Steven Knight Says New 007 Film Is ‘Going Incredibly Well’

It’s been five years since Daniel Craig last walked away from the Aston Martin, and James Bond fans are still waiting — but Steven Knight just made that wait feel a little more bearable. The Peaky Blinders creator, who’s been quietly writing the script for Amazon MGM’s next 007 film, stepped onto the red carpet at the 2026 BAFTA TV Awards and dropped the most encouraging update the franchise has offered in months.

“It’s really, really good. It’s going incredibly well,” Knight told Deadline when asked about the Bond project. “We’ve got the best people on it, and I really can’t wait for people to see it.”

That’s about as far as he was willing to go. When pressed for anything more — story details, production timelines, literally anything — Knight shut it down with a smile. “I can’t talk about it. Not a word. Not a word.” He did add that “everything is going fantastic” when the conversation turned to Amazon MGM’s involvement, which at least tells us the studio relationship is healthy, even if the rest remains locked in a vault somewhere.

The Team Behind Bond’s Return

What we do know is that the creative lineup for Bond 28 is genuinely exciting. Denis Villeneuve — the director who gave us Blade Runner 2049 and Dune: Part Two — is at the helm, bringing a pedigree for sprawling, visually stunning, emotionally grounded storytelling that feels like exactly the right fit for a franchise reboot. He’s expected to begin work on the Bond film after he finishes Dune: Part Three, which means the timeline is still a ways out, but the pieces are clearly moving.

Knight himself is no small hire. Beyond creating Peaky Blinders, he wrote the screenplay for Tom Hardy’s quietly brilliant 2013 one-hander Locke — a film that’s essentially one man in a car for 90 minutes and somehow one of the most gripping things Hardy has ever done. That’s a writer who understands character, pressure, and restraint. All things a Bond reboot desperately needs.

Amazon MGM has not announced a release date, and casting remains officially unconfirmed.

So Who’s Playing Bond?

That’s the question everyone keeps circling. Amazon MGM has made clear they’re taking their time — the studio wants a younger Bond, someone who can carry the franchise for years the way Craig did — and the speculation has been relentless.

Right now, the name generating the most heat is Jacob Elordi. On The Rest is Entertainment podcast, Guardian journalist Marina Hyde said Elordi had “kind of moved into pole position” in the race for 007. She was quick to add, though, that “nobody has signed anything yet” — so it’s still very much in flux. Elordi, best known for Euphoria, recently picked up serious awards attention for playing Frankenstein’s monster in Guillermo del Toro’s 2025 adaptation, a role that showed real range beyond his heartthrob reputation.

Callum Turner, who impressed in Masters of the Air, has also been floated as a strong contender. Earlier fan favorites like Henry Cavill and Idris Elba appear to be off the table, as the studio’s focus on youth and longevity narrows the field.

Filling the Bond-Shaped Hole in the Meantime

While the film takes shape behind closed doors, the franchise isn’t sitting completely still. IO Interactive — the studio behind the Hitman series — is releasing 007: First Light, a AAA video game that reimagines Bond as a young, inexperienced agent. The game runs roughly 20 hours and features multiple approaches to each mission, giving it serious replay value. It’s being developed in partnership with Amazon, and feels very much like a way to test the waters for a younger Bond before the film locks in its direction.

For fans who can’t wait that long for something cinematic, the spy-thriller gap in theaters is real. No Time to Die landed in October 2021, and nothing has quite filled that space since — not on the big screen, anyway.

Knight’s “not a word” might be the most on-brand thing a Bond writer could say. But between Villeneuve at the wheel, a script that’s apparently going “incredibly well,” and a casting race that’s quietly heating up, the next chapter of 007 is coming together — even if it’s doing so with the discretion Bond himself would approve of.