About those 007 stories in The Sun

Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloid, The Sun, has made a splash in the James Bond world lately, playing up the idea that actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a favorite to be the next James Bond actor.

The Sun’s first Taylor-Johnson story ran in late November. The tabloid proclaimed the actor, 32, was now a “surprise frontrunner” to succeed Daniel Craig as Bond. The story claimed that Taylor-Johnson had participated in a screen test in September.

The Sun followed up this weekend with a story that Taylor-Johnson had filmed a Bond gunbarrel sequence and, according to an unidentified “movie insider,” was now “a step closer to signing a deal.”

But there are some caveats that should be kept in mind.

Other outlets haven’t confirmed this: Many outlets have summarized what The Sun wrote (making sure to note it was coming from The Sun). But nobody seems to be going out on the same limb as The Sun.

Why March? In its latest story, The Sun says Eon Productions is looking to make a Bond actor announcement in March. Why March? What’s so important about that timing? The Sun doesn’t say.

What about all those earlier Barbara Broccoli comments? The Eon boss has said repeatedly said that Bond 26 won’t start filming for at least two years. But The Sun doesn’t even reference those comments. Has something changed? Were all those previous comments a smokescreen? You wouldn’t know from reading The Sun.

How about earlier stories by The Sun? As recently as June 2022, The Sun was playing up Idris Elba was supposedly in “fresh talks” to play Bond. What happened?

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical. Perhaps Taylor-Johnson really is being seriously considered. But The Sun hasn’t exactly distinguished itself with this story.