James Bond: Bodyguard Richard Madden gets MORE support to win 007 role – despite THIS news

The success of BBC One’s Bodyguard has put the former Game of Thrones star front-and-centre in James Bond speculation over recent weeks – and today his odds have been cut even further.

After another round of bets placed this week, Coral have cut him down to 4/1 – making him the joint second-favourite.

“Richard Madden has shown his credentials to be a future James Bond and ahead of the finale of the opening series of Bodyguard, he is being well backed to be the next 007,” said the firm’s John Hill.

But there’s still something very important that punters should bear in mind.

Today it was confirmed that the next James Bond movie, the 25th in the franchise, will be delayed to March 2020, with Cary Joji Fukunaga replacing Danny Boyle as director.

This will seemingly be Craig’s final time in the role, with rumours even suggesting producer Barbara Broccoli wants to kill off his incarnation of the iconic spy before the credits roll.

Rumours had mounted in recent weeks that Craig could have abandoned ship after Boyle’s exit, but today’s news confirms he is very much still involved.

So with that movie not even being released until 2020, we still presumably at least two years away from the next James Bond being released.

In that time, many more men will have appeared in TV dramas wearing sharp suits, and will likely receive similar speculation to Madden and his most obvious predecessors, McMafia’s James Norton and The Night Manager’s Tom Hiddleston.

For now, Tom Hardy remains the favourite to land the job – will odds of 2/1.

Idris Elba is with Madden on 4/1, while James Norton follows on 11/1.

Tom Hiddleston has odds of 8/1, along with Jack Huston and Aidan Turner.

Henry Cavill is on 14/1 amid speculation he could leave his role as Superman, while Cillian Murphy is on 16/1.

Michael Fassbender rounds out the frontrunners with 20/1 odds.

Today’s director announcement was revealed on Twitter, with the @007 account declaring: “Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig announced today that #Bond25 will begin filming at Pinewood Studios on 4 March 2019 under the helm of director, Cary Joji Fukunaga with a worldwide release date of 14 February 2020.

“‘We are delighted to be working with Cary. His versatility and innovation make him an excellent choice for our next James Bond adventure,’ said Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.”