While Amazon MGM Studios has yet to name Daniel Craig's successor, a new actor officially joined the James Bond franchise on Thursday, October 29 — just a much younger one.

Isaac Rouse (*The Crown*, *Get Even*) stars as James Bond in *Young Bond: SilverFin*, a full-cast audio drama adapting Charlie Higson's 2005 novel, per Polygon.

The production covers Bond's formative years at Eton College and his first deadly adventure in the Scottish Highlands, where a sinister secret waits beneath the waters of Loch Silverfin.

For a franchise that has gone nearly five years without a film, the wait for new Bond material just ended in audio form.

Polygon reports the SilverFin audio drama consists of 16 half-hour episodes across two volumes, promising action, intrigue and adventure exploring the boy destined to become the world's most famous secret agent.

Collider notes the series is available now on platforms including Audible and Spotify, spanning roughly eight hours in total, with Big Finish offering the first episode free on its website.

The cast around Rouse is notable: Charlotte McBurney plays Wilder Lawless, with Miriam Margolyes, Tim McInnerny, Miranda Raison, Paterson Joseph and William Hope alongside — and author Charlie Higson himself appears as Michael Merriot, an Eton classics tutor who becomes a mentor to the young, orphaned Bond.

ScreenRant adds that Ian Fleming's niece, Lucy Fleming, appears as Madame Ouspenskaya.

ScreenRant reports that Rouse marked the release with a photo shoot in a very different kind of Bond costume — a 1930s Eton school uniform like the one young James would have worn, rather than the tuxedo fans expect.

For physical collectors, Big Finish Productions is releasing CD boxed sets: a Platinum Collector's Edition priced at $162 USD bundles four discs of the full audiobook with a 'Young Bond Intelligence Report' magazine on the making of the series.

ScreenRant suggests holiday gifting for Bond fans just got easier. The release also extends the character's literary life — Higson wrote five Young Bond books plus a short story, and Steve Cole continued the series with four more, giving Rouse plenty of future material.

The timing is striking: as Collider points out, it has been almost five years since the last 007 film, *No Time To Die*, hit theaters in 2021, yet Bond fans have had an unusually busy year.

IO Interactive released its AAA video game *007 First Light* in May after multiple delays, debuting to widespread critical acclaim and selling millions of copies in its opening weekend, with a sequel confirmed. Patrick Gibson played Bond in that game's training-era story.

Now the audio drama adds yet another interpretation of the character's younger years — Collider's framing is that projects like SilverFin help make the wait for the next film shorter, and they keep the franchise active while the film side deliberates.

The film search is reaching its endgame.

The Daily Mail reports that a final shortlist of actors performed screen tests at Bray Studios — the historic Thames-side studio acquired by Amazon MGM Studios in 2024 — over the weekend, with Callum Turner kicking off auditions on Friday and a mystery star seen leaving on Saturday.

Fans on social media have theorized that the unidentified actor is Joe Alwyn, noting casting director Nina Gold has known him since drama school, though that remains fan speculation.

Producer Amy Pascal said in August that 'the end of the year is a good bet' for an announcement, and casting by December would allow filming to begin in 2027.

Polygon reports the reported shortlist of contenders includes Jack Barton — described as the surprise favorite — Jack Lowden of *Slow Horses*, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal and Harris Dickinson.

The next film, Bond 26, will be written by Stephen Knight and directed by Denis Villeneuve, with Nina Gold as casting director; Collider reports it will likely shoot next year and possibly arrive in 2028.

Pascal told the Daily Mail the process is 'really, really methodical,' saying 'Daniel Craig is a hard act to follow' and the choice must be 'something really different that is stirring and exciting.' Until the tuxedo is handed over, the new Bond of record is a teenage one at Eton.