Puck News (sort of) joins The Sun on Taylor-Johnson

James Bond gunbarrel logo

Puck News, the upstart online news outlet, is now out on the same limb as The Sun in saying Aaron Taylor-Johnson is being considered as the 007th James Bond film actor.

The Sun, Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloid, has been leading the charge that Taylor-Johnson, 32, is being seriously considered to succeed Daniel Craig as Bond. Now Puck, led by former Hollywood Reporter editor Matthew Belloni, is saying the news is true (while not mentioning The Sun).

Here’s an excerpt from a Belloni post addressing various entertainment stories:

The Aaron Taylor-Johnson rumors are true—he sat with producer Barbara Broccoli, and the meeting went well, per sources. But while Taylor-Johnson fits the bill—great actor, British, fits the younger direction the Broccolis want to go, accomplished but not particularly famous—he’s about to be a much bigger star. If Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff Kraven the Hunter or Universal’s Ryan Gosling two-hander The Fall Guy works, Taylor-Johnson might end up, ironically, too famous to take on Bond.    

There isn’t anymore offered by Belloni. But, at long last, somebody (sort of) has joined The Sun in promoting Taylor-Johnson’s prospects.

As usual, we’ll see.

UPDATE: A variety of news outlets including the New York Post, Collider, and Yahoo Entertainment are going WILD with the Puck New Report. There are others but you get the point.

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.