Gary Oldman has claimed that producers have already decided who will be the next James Bond – and says that his “fingers are crossed” for one name to emerge.

The Slow Horses actor (68) threw his support behind co-star Jack Lowden, who has in recent weeks emerged as the bookmakers’ favourite to take over the iconic spy role following the departure of Daniel Craig.

Speaking to Canada’s The Morning Show, Oldman said that he believed an announcement was coming “soon” and that the franchise bosses had “made their choice” already.

“It’s been rumoured that [Lowden is] on the shortlist,” he said. “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.”

The decision is being made by producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman, as well as Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve – who has signed up to direct the forthcoming 007 film.

Alongside Lowden, other mooted frontrunners for the role include Callum Turner (One Night Only), Jacob Elordi (Wuthering Heights) and Harris Dickinson (Babygirl).

The last Bond film was 2021’s No Time to Die, which served as Craig’s fifth and final outing as the spy.

Speaking to The Independent back in June, casting director Debbie McWilliams, who helped select previous Bond actors such as Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Craig, said that “it is absolutely essential that [Bond] retains a total enigma”.

“I don’t want to see [Elordi, Turner, Dickinson et al] as Bond because we now know so much about them,” she added.

“We want to know as little about them personally as possible, because that’s what spies are. We don’t need to know where he goes shopping or who his parents are, or where he lives… He’s licensed to kill, and we have to believe that he can do that. If you don’t, then you’ve lost the audience.”

Last week, Rory Kinnear, who played the supporting character of Bill Tanner in the Craig era of Bond films, spoke about the possibility of returning to 007 for the reboot.

The actor, who featured in four Bond films, said he was hopeful that the new entry would retain a degree of “continuity” with Craig’s run.

“That’s the exciting thing,” he told The Times. “I’m sure they’ll want to hold on to some continuity, what it means to people. But there’ll be a whole different approach.”