10 Reasons Tom Hardy Must Be The Next James Bond
Why Hardy should be locked in as the next Bond.
"The name's Bond… James Bond" – an iconic line that has graced the lips of a select few screen legends from the debonair highs of Sean Connery and David Niven to the rough and ready depths of Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig with a dollop of cinema's finest cheese inbetween ala George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. But with Daniel Craig's contract up, everyone is wondering which actor will be next.
There's no shortage of speculation but if you're a betting (wo)man you'll find yourself drawn to some of British film's finest men of the moment.
In the frame for filling 007's shoes (and the bookies' betting cards) include: Fifty Shades of Grey's Jamie Dornan, The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln, Man of Steel's Henry Cavill, The Theory of Everything's Eddie Redmayne, Avatar's Sam Worthington, Brighton Rock's Sam Riley, American Hustle's Christian Bale, Hunger's Michael Fassbender, Warrior's Tom Hardy, Luther's Idris Elba and the bookies' favourite: Homeland's Lewis… Damien Lewis.
But if there's anyone in the above list that we've taken a shine to it's Tom Hardy. If you'd like to follow us this way we'll tell you exactly why the Mad Max: Fury Road star should be the next James Bond over everybody else.
10. He's Top Dog At It when It Comes To Box Office Chops
As the Bond franchise becomes more and more commercial (hello shameless product placements!), it's looking increasingly likely that the next James Bond actor will already be a bona fide star. The chances of a breakout like George Lazenby or Timothy Dalton playing 007 is slim. Bond is the world's most famous secret agent and the franchise needs a recognisable frontman to take over. That means prior magazine cover shoots, modelling, adverts, major film roles and, perhaps most importantly, established box office success.
With supporting parts in mega hits like Inception and The Dark Knight Rises and a mammoth hit in the leading role of Mad Max Fury Road, Hardy's films have racked up over a billion dollars at the box office with $150m of that coming from Mad Max alone. With an average opening gross of over $40m, Hardy's charm should help pay back Bond's inflated production costs in no time.