Next Bond favourite tops Tom Hardy and Henry Cavill in UK fan popularity | Films | Entertainment

No Time To Die hit cinemas almost two years ago and with Daniel Craig bowing out of the role fans are still eagerly awaiting the announcement of his James Bond replacement.

Speculation is rife over the likes of Tom Hardy and Henry Cavill, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson is rumoured to have had an audition already.

However, new data collected by Taboola from over 9000 publisher partners and news sites, has painted a vivid picture of the race for the coveted role and who the UK’s favourite most likely is.

It turns out the most popular actor is a Game of Thrones star who has seen a +2345 per cent spike in readership over the past 90 days.

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The star in question is Richard Madden, who is probably enjoying a surge in popularity because of his new Amazon show Citadel.

Just behind him in second on +1410 per cent is Cillian Murphy, the star of Christopher Nolan’s next blockbuster Oppenheimer.

Much further back in third is Taylor-Johnson on +142 per cent, followed by Hardy on +33 per cent and Cavill on +15 per cent.

Meanwhile, falling behind with a decrease of -72 per cent is Regé-Jean Page, Taron Egerton on -69 per cent and Idris Elba on -93 per cent.

“Data shows that the topic of who will be the next James Bond is having an interesting impact on our figures,” commented Dave Struzzi, Communications Leader at Taboola. “We’ve seen a huge leap in interest surrounding Richard Madden, who is now looking like a firm fan favourite to step into the former shoes of Daniel Craig. What people are reading is a true reflection of interests versus on other platforms like social media where things are more difficult to decipher.”