The Bond shortlist just got a whole lot more interesting: Pattinson and Hoult crashed the auditions
Variety, Deadline, and The Hollywood Reporter all confirmed Thursday that Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult joined the screen-test pool for Denis Villeneuve's Bond 26, blowing up what was already the year's most watched casting race.
In brief
The Bond shortlist just got a whole lot more interesting: Pattinson and Hoult crashed the auditions
The race to become the next James Bond was already the most obsessively tracked casting story in Hollywood. Then Thursday happened. Variety reported that Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult had both screen-tested for Denis Villeneuve's Bond 26, dropping two of the biggest names yet into a shortlist that had, until that point, been populated by a trio of rising British stars. The internet proceeded to lose its mind.
Deadline confirmed the same story within the hour, citing insiders who say Pattinson and Hoult joined Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Josh O'Connor (Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man), and Callum Turner (Masters of the Sky) in the final test pool. While not confirmed, insiders told Deadline that Pattinson and Hoult joined Lowden, O'Connor, and Turner in recent screen tests to play the next 007, and that a fifth test was added at the eleventh hour, though it is unknown which actor that last addition was.
The timeline is wild. Pattinson is currently in London shooting The Batman Part II, which is exactly where these screen tests have been happening, and word is that while that production paused during a director's hiatus, Villeneuve asked Pattinson to come in for a test. Villeneuve also just made Dune: Part Three with Pattinson, so the working relationship was already there.
The Hoult angle has its own layer of irony. Pattinson and Hoult were both in the running for Matt Reeves' The Batman, and Pattinson won the cape. Hoult went on to play Lex Luthor in James Gunn's Superman, which makes him Batman's DC rival twice over. Now they are competing for the same tuxedo. Again.
Per Variety, Harry Styles has also had discussions about the part, and Theo James has not been ruled out. Amazon MGM declined to comment on the casting rumors, per the same report.
Who's actually directing, and what's the plan
Last year, Amazon MGM Studios tapped Villeneuve as the franchise's next director, with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight hired to write the script. Tanya Lapointe will serve as executive producer, with Amy Pascal and David Heyman as producers. No release date has been set for Bond 26.
Bond 26 producer Amy Pascal said in August that "the end of the year is a good bet" for the official casting announcement. An industry insider told Euronews in late October that "an announcement could come anytime between the last week of October and early November." That window is right now.
And there is already a quasi-frontrunner emerging, at least according to one very specific source. Showbiz411's Roger Friedman, the journalist credited for breaking Daniel Craig's original Bond casting, has put his track record behind Callum Turner. Friedman says "word on the street" is that Turner is the new 007. Friedman also suggested that Turner's wife, pop singer Dua Lipa, could sing the theme song for the upcoming film. Amazon MGM has made no official announcement, and Friedman does not cite named sources in his write-up, and his previous success alone does not independently verify this new report.
Why Pattinson, specifically, is blowing people's heads off
The internet's reaction to Pattinson's name has been something. He already plays one iconic franchise hero in a cape. The idea of him swapping the bat-suit for a dinner jacket, working again with Villeneuve, strikes many fans as either completely logical or completely absurd. Both reactions are driving enormous amounts of conversation.
Pattinson stars as Batman for DC Studios and is an alum of both the Twilight and Harry Potter franchises. Hoult plays Lex Luthor in DC's Superman movies and starred in the 2010s X-Men prequel trilogy. Both men know what a franchise commitment actually costs in calendar years and tabloid attention. Taking on Bond is a different scale entirely.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Pattinson tested in London the weekend of October 24. Following two months of meetings, Deadline had reported the first round of auditions would take place in August. Since then, the studio, producers Pascal and Heyman, and Villeneuve cut the list to its final group and worked out test offers in September.
Gary Oldman also claimed recently that the next James Bond has already been picked, though no official casting announcement has been made. Amazon is staying quiet. Turner's people are staying quiet. Pattinson's people are staying quiet. The only thing not quiet right now is social media.
Knight Edge Media reports that Amazon MGM plans to officially announce the casting decision before the end of the year. If that holds, the wait is now measured in weeks, not months. And based on what dropped Thursday, the final answer may still surprise everyone.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
