It ‘s approaching four years since the release of Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond in No Time To Die.
Now that the actor has confirmed that he has hung up his 007 tux for good there has been no letup in the speculation over who will succeed him in one of the world’s biggest film franchaises, following in the footsteps of Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson had seemed a certainty, but with no confirmation The Crown star Josh O’Connor is currently the favourite to take on the iconic role.
And there has also been a huge amount of speculation as to who will be behind the camera for the next blockbuster.
Since British director Terence Young took on the first two films in the series, Dr. No and From Russia With Love (he also returned for the fourth, Thunderball), there have been a total of 27 instalments (two of them unofficial) in the moneyspinning franchaise.
John Glen has directed the most, with five entries spanning the Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton years, while Sam Mendes brought Oscar-winning gravitas to the more recent Skyfall and Spectre.
Here are the 15 most likely candidates to take on the next 007 film accorfing to the bookies.
5. Christopher Nolan - 4/1
Last year saw Christopher Nolan win a couple of Oscars for biopic Oppenheimer and the director is no stranger to big-budget blockbuster franchaises - following his Dark Knight Batman trilogy. No wonder he's fancied to take over the reins of the Bond films - although he might be too busy working on his latest epic The Odyssey. He's also priced at 4/1. | Getty Images
6. Martin Campbell - 7/1
New Zealander film and television director Martin Campbell has already headed up two James Bond films - GoldenEye and Casino Royale. He's priced at 7/1 to come back to the franchaise and take on a third. | Getty Images
7. Denis Villeneuve - 9/1
Finally a free agent after spending years on the two Dune sci-fi films, Denis Villeneuve also successfully took on the Blade Runner franchaise. He's 9/1 to now turn his attention to 007. | Getty Images for BFI
8. Matthew Vaughan - 9/1
Co-creator of the Kingsman comic book and film franchise, the three movies in the series thusfar - Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and The King's Man - are pretty much James Bond parodies. Matthew Vaughn is 9/1 to take on the real thing next, having also proven his ability to take on a pre-existing franchaise with X-Men: First Class. | Getty Images for Universal Pictu