Oscar winner Gary Oldman has claimed that James Bond franchise owners have chosen the next 007, backing his Slow Horses co-actor Jack Lowden for the role.

​“It’s been rumored that Lowden is on the shortlist,” Oldman told Canada’s The Morning Show. “We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we? Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack.”

While Amazon MGM Studios has refused to comment on casting, Lowden is among several actors linked to the franchise ahead of production next year. According to reports, Callum Turner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jacob Elordi, Lowden, and Harris Dickinson have been among the actors in the shortlist for the part. James Bond film makers are known to choose newcomers or relatively less-known for the role, a fact that applies to Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. Each of them became major stars due to their roles as Bond.

While Connery appeared in the first Bond film, Dr No, Craig played the role in the last film in the franchise, No Time To Die. 

As reported before, Denis Villeneuve has been tapped as the director for the film alongside screenwriter Steven Knight, best known as the creator of Netflix's Peaky Blinders. Speaking of which, Knight told Radio 4’s Today that the film's producers have chosen the next James Bond actor.

It is also worth noting that Lowden’s wife, actor Saoirse Ronan, expressed her interest in joining the franchise as an antagonist. “I think it would be really interesting, having a young female villain,” Ronan told Empire. She added, “Especially for girls and women, to see someone who can just take all that pent-up anger and direct it somewhere, there’s something interesting in that dramatically. So I would love to do more of that.”