James Bond

Aaron Taylor-Johnson gettin' his license to kill it as James Bond from a former 007 ... who tells us ATJ's got the toughness to handle the secret agent life.

George Lazenby -- who played Bond in 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" -- gave Aaron his seal of approval ... saying the 33-year-old can handle the stunts, and all the ladies who love a man in a tux.

Worth noting, Aaron's already got a leading lady of his own -- director/producer Sam Taylor-Johnson ... but we get where George is goin'.

Lazenby adds he's pretty sure Aaron doesn't have the part yet ... 'cause when he auditioned for the part back in the 1960s, he went through a bunch of different tests and auditions before he won the role.

James Bond has gone totally international now, according to George ... who points out the character's been played by people of different nationalities over the past 60 years, including a Scot, a Welshman, an Irishman, multiple Englishmen, and George himself, who is Australian.

Because of that variety of national origins, Lazenby says he's fine with wherever the actor happens to hail from ... as long as they do the character justice.

It's been 2 years since Daniel Craig hung it up as James Bond -- but even now, the franchise's producers haven't done much on the next chapter ... which is kinda surprising.

Barbara Broccoli -- who's one of the key producers of the Bond franchise, and who holds the rights to all the films -- made the revelation to The Guardian this weekend ... telling them they're quite a ways out from choosing their next 007.

She says there's a "big road ahead" before their famed British spy could be reinvented for the next chapter." Even more startling is that she says the execs "haven’t even begun" the process of rebooting the franchise, which they apparently want to make more modern.

Broccoli says the next iteration of Bond has to reflect how the world has changed since DC was tapped almost 20 years ago ... and noted the character had often been reinvented. She adds, "Daniel gave us the ability to mine the emotional life of the character … and also the world was ready for it. I think these movies reflect the time they are in."

That's all fine and good ... but what's getting some head-turns here is the fact that Barbara and co. seem to be dragging their feet on this -- at least that's what some Bond fans say.

Of course, the timing is objectively on par with how long it took them the last time to recast Bond -- Pierce Brosnan's last go at it was in 2002, and Craig didn't pick up the baton until 4 years later in 2006 ... so yeah, the producers seem to like to take their sweet time.

There's also all the strike stuff that's going on in showbiz right now -- so perhaps that's also holding things up. In any case, here's hoping they can start zeroing in sooner than later.

Han pasado 2 años desde que Daniel Craig renunció a James Bond y los productores de la franquicia no han avanzado mucho que digamos en el próximo capítulo, lo cual es bastante sorprendente.

Barbara Broccoli —una de las productoras clave de la franquicia Bond y que tiene los derechos de todas las películas— hizo la revelación a The Guardian este fin de semana, diciéndoles que están bastante lejos de la elección de su próximo 007.

Ella dice que hay un "gran camino por recorrer" antes de que su famoso espía británico sea reinventado para el próximo capítulo". Aún más sorprendente es que dice que los ejecutivos "ni siquiera han comenzado" el proceso de reiniciar la franquicia. Aparentemente quieren modernizarla.

Broccoli dice que la próxima entrega de Bond tiene que reflejar cómo ha cambiado el mundo desde que Craig fue contratado hace casi 20 años y señaló que el personaje había sido reinventado a menudo, y añade: "Daniel nos dio la capacidad de extraer la vida emocional del personaje y el mundo estaba preparado para ello. Creo que estas películas reflejan el momento en el que se encuentran".

Todo eso está muy bien, pero lo que está dando que pensar aquí es el hecho de que Barbara y compañía parecen estar dando largas al asunto, al menos eso es lo que dicen algunos fans de Bond.

Por supuesto, el calendario está a la par con el tiempo que les tomó la última vez para refundir a Bond. La última vez que Pierce Brosnan lo hizo fue en 2002, y Craig tomó el desafío cuatro años más tarde, en 2006, así que sí, a los productores parece que les gusta tomarse su tiempo.

También hay que tener en cuenta la huelga que está teniendo lugar en el mundo del espectáculo en estos momentos, así que quizás eso también esté retrasando las cosas. En cualquier caso, esperemos que puedan empezar a trabajar cuanto antes.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez left their Sardinia vacation the same way James Bond might leave a villain's island after a successful mission -- full-throttle and completely badass.

The Amazon founder and his fiancée beelined it away from the Italian island Monday after spending several days there ... where they were soaking up the sun and enjoying the open seas. As a getaway vehicle, they opted for what seems to be a very expensive speed boat.

JB and LS were rocking their shades and chatting it up as the vessel roared through over the water and approached an even larger boat -- a massive support boat that was waiting for both of them.

This is not Bezos' superyacht ... it's appears to be the tender that takes them from the yacht to shore, and even IT is awesome ...  it has a freaking helipad on top of it, which Jeff and Lauren used.

Indeed ... they ended up leaving the area entirely up in the skies. A helicopter flew 'em out -- so they went from land to sea ... and finally to the air. We suppose we wouldn't expect anything less from a multibillionaire -- they tend to travel in style, especially on vacation.

As we've reported ... Jeff and Lauren have gotten their honeymoon started early this summer. They've been hopping all over Europe for the past month -- and wherever they go, they seem to be rolling solo and enjoying each other's company ... almost exclusively.

Henry Cavill apparently might've had the role of James Bond locked up in the 2000s -- and he would've gotten away with it too ... if it wasn't for that meddling Daniel Craig.

This revelation was made courtesy of Martin Campbell -- the director of "Casino Royale," which was the first new Bond movie to feature DC post-Pierce Brosnan. According to him, not only did Henry throw his hat in the ring for the coveted role ... but he was a real contender.

Here's what Campbell had to say about HC's audition way back when ... "He looked great in the audition. His acting was tremendous. And look, if Daniel didn’t exist Henry would have made an excellent Bond."

Campbell adds, "He looked terrific, he was in great physical shape … very handsome, very chiseled. He just looked a little young at that time back then."

Now, while Campbell notes that Henry wasn't his personal favorite at the time out of the final group being considered -- he still concedes ... the dude certainly could've done it. Unfortunately, Craig rolled through and gave it a shot -- and ended up landing the gig.

Now on the prospect of Henry potentially circling back and snagging the role of 007 now, Campbell addresses what most everyone else has said about HC at this point ... namely, he's kinda considered a geyser by Hollywood standards, especially for a multi-year commitment.

He explains that Craig spent a good decade-plus playing Bond -- and that sort of time could start to become noticeable on an actor like Henry, who's already in his 40s. MC continues ... "Henry’s 40, so by the time he’s done the third one he’s going to be 50 and anything beyond that’s two, three years per Bond. He’s in good shape Henry, he’s a good guy."

Liam Hemsworth should take over the James Bond franchise from Daniel Craig ... so says the guy who took the torch from Sean Connery.

George Lazenby, best known as the Bond after Sean, tells TMZ ... Liam deserves Hollywood's famed license to kill for a whole host of reasons.

First, George says Liam has the acting resume worthy of the next MI-6 agent, and also has enough experience to deal with all the media attention and scrutiny.

George was the youngest James Bond, only 29 years old, when he was cast to replace Connery -- and he thinks 32-year-old Liam could churn out Bond films for the next decade, all while retaining his youthful good looks, just like George has ... if he does say so himself. 😆

Of course, there's also the Australia connection ... George and Liam are both from down under ... and every James Bond to date has been under the British crown. Australia is a British Commonwealth nation, so George says a "good-looking Aussie dude" like Liam fits the bill.

Perhaps most importantly, George says the next Bond has to be "crazy enough, arrogant enough, confident enough, ambitious enough to take on the role" ... because Craig, like Connery, is a tough act to follow.

Add it all up and George says Liam checks all the boxes.

As we reported, names are flying as speculation mounts over who will be the next Bond, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, an English actor famous for "Bullet Train" and "Kick-Ass," entering the mix ... along with "Emily in Paris" star Lucien Laviscount.

George has previously told us the next Bond could be female ... he says the late Dame Diana Rigg -- the Bond Girl who co-starred with him in his 1969 film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" -- was every bit his equal on the big screen.

But, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli is now saying the next 007 will be a man, and George says the boss' word goes in Bond world.

It seems producers of the James Bond franchise aren't ready to make up their minds on exactly who they have their sights set on -- now Aaron Taylor-Johnson's in the mix.

The British actor -- famous for his role in "Kick-Ass" and, more recently, "Bullet Train" -- is reported to have had a meeting with Barbara Broccoli in September ... and not just that, he even did a screen test that went well, according to Daily Mail and Puck News.

The screen test is said to have been part of a full-blown audition Aaron apparently did for Barbara and co. -- and it sounds like everyone was impressed with what they saw. Word is ... they had ATJ do the iconic gun barrel opening sequence, which is a huge deal obviously.

The reports say Aaron is now a front-runner, but that nothing is official yet. This is a major development from the news that came out this past weekend -- when "Emily in Paris" star Lucien Laviscount was said to have been in the running as well and also considered a favorite.

There've been a lot of names thrown around over the past several months, but Aaron's the first one who's gotten on camera to try his hand at Bond ... as far as we've heard at least.

From Mr. Paris to Mr. Bond -- that seems to be the trajectory Lucien Laviscount might be on ... if you believe the reports that he's in the running as the next 007.

The British actor -- famous for his recurring role on Netflix's 'Emily in Paris' -- is said to have captured the attention of movie producer Barbara Broccoli ... who also holds the rights to the James Bond franchise, and who's in search of a new agent to replace Daniel Craig.

According to the Daily Mail ... his work in 'EIP' -- where he plays the main character's love interest, Alfie -- is what landed him as a frontrunner for the job. He's been on for 2 seasons.

DM cites one purported insider as saying, "Lucien ticks all of the boxes. He is a super talented actor, is extremely handsome and in the past 18 months has won lots of new fans since he joined Emily In Paris. Bond bosses are already saying how you can see him in the 007 tuxedo, how dapper and fitting to the role he will look."

The thing that might hurt him, apparently ... his time on 'Celebrity Big Brother,' on which he competed in 2011. According to this source, the Bond producers think it's low brow stuff not fitting of a Bond actor, even though they're supposedly still pretty high on him in general.

The other interesting tidbit coming out of this report ... Broccoli is said to have greenlit stunt work testing over at Pinewood Studios, where they've shot a lot of Bond content. If true, that would mean they're ramping up to start the next chapter post-Craig/'No Time to Die.'

There'd been rumblings that Idris Elba was being considered to play the next Bond, but frankly ... he's too old, and Lucien fits the bill for what Broccoli and co. have recently said they want in their next iteration of the character. A young whippersnapper, that is.

We'll say this ... Lucien's definitely got the look down. Handsome, fit and natural elegance. All the right stuff that makes Bond an international heartthrob.

Here's hoping the Bond honchos figure it out sooner than later. The gap between Pierce Brosnan and Craig (4 years) was longer than any period from previous actors -- meaning, when one guy left ... the other slid in rather seamlessly in a matter of a year or two.

Floyd Mayweather pulled off the ultimate feint ... the boxing legend took friend, businessman Robert Smith to look at property -- at least, that's where the billionaire investor thought they were going -- but in reality, the 50-0 legend delivered Smith to his surprise 60th birthday party!

"When Robert walked into his house he was shocked to see us all there. He was really surprised and had no clue that his family threw him a surprise party," Mayweather tells TMZ Sports.

And, the Palm Beach, FL party was awesome ... the theme was James Bond: 0060, to commemorate Smith -- who Forbes estimates is worth around $8 billion -- for turning 60 years old earlier this month.

Everything from the decorations to the cake was Bond-themed!

Robert is a big collector of Bond writer Ian Fleming first editions ... hence the theme.

We're told only 60 of Robert's closing family and friends were in attendance ... and cell phones were taken at the door.

Bill Maher misses the days of old -- especially when it comes to James Bond ... whom he says has gone soft and mushy in the Daniel Craig era, going so far as to call him "woke."

The 'Real Time' host dished his thoughts on the fictional spy character during the most recent episode of his podcast, "Club Random with Bill Maher," where he was chatting with YouTuber Hannah Stocking about how he feels Bond has changed ... for the worse.

Watch ... Bill says they've turned 007 into a watered-down stud, who's deeply in love and in a committed relationship in this last installment, "No Time to Die" -- which BM says is so unlike Bond and counterintuitive to the spirit of the OG character by author Ian Fleming.

To make his point, he recalls when Denise Richards starred in "The World Is Not Enough" -- Pierce Brosnan's 2nd-to-last go-around -- and killed it by playing a hottie scientist/the love interest.

It's unclear if Bill's suggesting that actress Lea Seydoux, who's Craig's GF in the last two flicks, *isn't* hot -- because that's just wrong, she totally is -- or if his beef is more so with the dynamic in these newer Bond movies ... aka, lovey-dovey. In any case, he doesn't dig it.

Bill even says Bond bringing his gal (and their kid) along for the climactic mission at the end is super weird -- joking the MI6 agent might as well have stopped off for tampons.

Of course, not everyone agrees with Bill's take -- there are a lot of folks who actually like how Bond has progressed over these past several years ... with some saying he's perhaps more fleshed-out, complex and interesting than any other iteration before this.

Fans' demands for Idris Elba to play James Bond are NOT falling on deaf ears for those who can make it happen ... because he seems to be at the forefront of their minds.

Two producers who are key to the franchise, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, dished about Daniel Craig's final outing as the MI6 agent ... and gave a bit of insight into who could potentially succeed him in future installments -- and sure enough, Idris came up.

During an appearance on the 'Crew Call' podcast this week, Broccoli and Wilson were asked if they'd had any discussions with IE about taking on the mantle ... amid a massive push from the fanbase to get the guy in Bond's iconic tux.

Check it out ... BB says she actually knows Idris personally, adding they're friends -- which seems to answer the question. Namely, yes, she has presumably chatted with him about it.

She goes on to say that Idris has certainly been part of the conversation as someone who could possibly carry on the legacy -- but as for whose convo, exactly, she leaves it kinda vague. Obviously his involvement has been discussed at length among normies ... but Barb makes it sound like his name has been tossed around among the '007' honchos, too.

Of course, she totally hedges and pulls back (as she has often when asked about this lately) and says they aren't even seriously considering names just yet ... wanting to give DC his victory lap while "No Time to Die" is still in theaters.

Still, the fact that the host mentioned calls for Pierce Brosnan to be tapped back in the late '80s/'90s -- and the fact it actually manifested -- seems to confirm ... these Bond gatekeepers listen to what the fans want, age be damned!

We only mention that because some say Idris is too old to play JB, even though Craig is actually older than him at 53 ... not to mention Roger Moore playing Bond well into his '50s.

James Bond could soon be using they/them pronouns on the big screen -- at least according to the woman who co-owns the rights to the franchise, and isn't ruling out the possibility.

Producer Barbara Broccoli -- who controls all things Bond via her film company, Eon Productions, alongside her brother -- did an interview with Anna Smith of the "Girls on Film" podcast ... and the debate over Bond being a woman was once again brought up.

Smith asked if she still felt JB needed to be a man going forward, and Broccoli again said yes. She reiterated her point about not forcing a gender-bending switch for characters that are traditionally male (like Bond) and said new ones simply needed to be written for females.

Then ... a curveball. Smith asked if Bond could, perhaps, be non-binary ... and Broccoli didn't shut down the idea outright. She replied, "Who knows, I think it's open, you know? We just have to find the right actor."

To be frank, it doesn't sound like Broccoli was eagerly jumping at the idea, and she had said right before that ... she thinks Bond will be a man in the future. Still, it's interesting she even entertained the idea.

One thing she did say 007 could be ... a POC. She just wants Bond to be British, and to have XY chromosomes. Everything else about the character, it seems, is open to discussion.

Daniel Craig's taking heat for saying a woman shouldn't play James Bond because women deserve better parts, but another 007 is defending him -- while adding his own slightly different take.

George Lazenby, best known as the second guy to portray James Bond after Sean Connery, tells TMZ ... he understands where Craig's coming from and believes he was just backing up the boss, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli.

If you're not familiar ... Barbara's known for her work on the Bond film franchise, and in an interview with Variety last year she said the JB character "can be of any color, but he is male."

She added ... "I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it." Instead, she said strong new characters should be created for women.

So, George firmly believes Daniel was just echoing one of the best producers in the biz, who also happens to be a woman.

That said, George points out Bond has been played by a wide range of men -- a Scot, an Irishman, a Welsh guy, 2 Englishmen and even an Aussie (himself) -- so he thinks it should be up for grabs ... male or female. He predicts it will happen, just maybe not right away.

Finally, Lazenby points to the late Dame Diana Rigg -- the Bond Girl who co-starred with him in his 1969 film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" -- telling us she was "everything a top spy could be -- sexy, tough, sassy and able to look after herself. So, there’s no reason why you can’t have a special agent like that."

For now, we're getting Craig's final performance (he swears it this time) as Bond when 'No Time to Die' comes out next month.

Tanya Roberts' longtime partner says he was distraught and confused during his final moments with her ... which may explain why he prematurely told folks she had died.

Lance O'Brien told a photog Tuesday ... when he visited her Sunday at the hospital she was in bad shape -- unresponsive on a ventilator -- but he says when he told her he was there, she sat up and opened her eyes.

This led him to believe she was responding, but he says hospital staff told him it was just a reflex ... and she was "out" shortly afterward. Lance tells us he was beside himself, so he got in the elevator and left.

Lance says Tanya's rep Mike Pingel -- who's driving Lance in this video -- picked him up from the hospital and asked what happened ... and this might help explain her bizarre premature death announcement.

He tells us he responded, "I just said goodbye to Tanya," and that was it ... then he went home and fell asleep, only to wake up later to phone calls about her passing.

Lance seems to be suggesting Mike interpreted his statement as proof Tanya had died, though Pingel also says Lance told him ... "She died in my arms."

Either way, it makes sense in wake of a devastating, tragic moment that there could be a communication breakdown ... and Lance says the ordeal was made all the more difficult due to COVID.

Lance also tells us Tanya had her initial health scare on December 23 -- not Christmas Eve -- but he thought it was just a blood sugar issue and she would be fine.

We broke the story ... Tanya died Monday night at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Despite the strange story involving her death, she'll be remembered for her long and successful career as a model and actress ... most recently for starring on "That '70s Show" as Midge.

Tanya was 65.

Sean Connery died in his sleep from pneumonia, heart failure and old age ... according to his death certificate.

TMZ obtained Connery's death cert and it shows he died from respiratory failure as a result of pneumonia, old age and atrial fibrillation ... an irregular heart rate that can increase the risk of strokes, heart failure and other heart-related complications.

The doc shows he died on October 31 at 1:30 AM at his home in the Bahamas. His occupation is listed as a retired actor. As we reported ... Sean's wife, Micheline Roquebrune, said Sean died peacefully in his sleep. He was 90.

Sean, of course, became a huge star in 1962 after "Dr. No" was released. He went on to star in 7 Bond films between 1962 and 1983 -- "From Russia with Love," "Goldfinger," "Thunderball," "You Only Live Twice," "Diamonds are Forever," and "Never Say Never Again."

He also starred in "The Hunt for Red October," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "The Rock."