‘I think my boots are falling apart!” shouts Nigel just as we hit the pinnacles, a whole range of them jutting up and out from the mountainside, all thrillingly tall, spiky and knobbled. Through them we painstakingly step, fingers aching in gloves, heads sweating in helmets – squashing up narrow chimneys, squeezing through mighty boulders and inching along slender ledges on a twisting path that’s only just discernible through swathes of sharp white scree.
I know how Nigel’s boots are feeling: the going is far harder than I was expecting. This is only the first day of our annual trip to the Dolomites, a vast range of breathtaking sawtooth peaks in northern Italy, but my head’s already full of the thought I have every year as we start out: “If only you’d got fitter.”
But it should be worth all the scrapes, bumps, scares and sweat. Somewhere up ahead, hopefully not too far, is Rifugio Passo Santner, or Santnerpass Hut, a spectacular mountain refuge that, as everyone who sits near my desk at work knows, has been obsessing me ever since I first saw a picture of it eight months ago.
Allowing you to stay deep in the mountains for days on end, the high-altitude Dolomites huts we overnight at all have their charms, from hearty food to giddying views to a generous way with the grappa. But in terms of appearance, they tend to fall into two not particularly pulse-quickening camps: stone block or cuckoo clock. Although you’re almost always overjoyed to see them, none could ever pass for a Bond villain’s lair, however much grappa you’ve had.
Yet that is exactly what Santnerpass Hut resembles. Perched on top of a sheer cliff, this elongated triangle encased in a gleaming wrapper of galvanised steel looks like a giant Toblerone still in its foil – an eyepopping hit of modernity, originality and innovation in a place where tradition usually dictates more of the same.
After one final push, the five of us scramble up on to the summit and there it is just ahead, side on and glowing silver in the late afternoon sun, like a star that has touched down on Earth to enjoy the stunning views of the surrounding peaks with the rest of us, up at the bracing height of 2,734m.
“Welcome!” says the bartender as we enter. “You made it. Well done!” With the customary relief – if not actual jubilation – that follows a tough climb finally ending, we ease off our backpacks, gloves and boots then look around, slowly realising that Santnerpass Hut isn’t just a treat for the eyes from the outside.
Inside, what you first notice is the unbroken parade of huge windows wrapping around the refuge’s front and flanks. This doesn’t just turn every spot of the roomy ground floor into a light-filled observation point. It also means the hut achieves passive heating since it’s effectively one big solar collector. So there’s no need for log-devouring stoves. That’s quite an achievement at ground level; at more than 2km up, with no road access, it’s verging on miraculous.
Then there’s the wood. It’s blond and everywhere. Guests are basically cocooned within a spellbinding timber tapestry that casts everything in a warm yellow glow, quite a novelty to anyone used to the dingy two-watt corridors and bedrooms of most refuges.
The flooring is larch, the restaurant furnishings maple and the load-bearing A-frame spruce, its hefty angular joists exposed on the sundeck, where we soon find ourselves sinking well-earned ice-cold drinks and marvelling at this beacon of sustainable architecture.
There are other things to marvel at. Off in the distance, piercing up through an immense blanket of cloud, the lofty peaks of the Latemar group are catching the last rays of the sun, turning pink, orange and purple in a ravishing Dolomites phenomenon known as the enrosadira, triggered by calcium and magnesium in the rock. “This place is incredible,” says Donnie, sipping an Aperol spritz. “I’ve never been anywhere like it in my life.”
Santnerpass Hut was built in 1956 but in the last decade or so was taken over, closed and rebuilt, finally opening its generous glass doors in 2023. Designed by alpine specialists Senoner Tammerle Architects, the new refuge is not just meant to please the eye: the shape lets it shed thick snow and deflect howling winds.
There are more surprises when we take our pre-dinner showers. Not only does the wood here give way to zesty yellow laminated panels that wouldn’t look out of place in a chic nightclub, the showerheads also actually stay pointing at your body for the full three minutes of hot water a token gets you.
Dinner, however, may have been the biggest surprise of all. It was completely vegetarian – a shock for all of us and a treat for veggies Sam and Nigel. No goulash, no ragu, no pork chops. Instead, out of the kitchen came herb-sprinkled lentils with asparagus, radish and onion, pea and mint soup, then beetroot dumplings on a rich bean, tomato and yellow pepper broth, washed down with superb local wine in actual wine glasses and finished off with creme brulee.
“A delicious and nutritious meal,” said Sam, running his spoon round his plate. “What an eye-opener. A win-win for hiker and planet.”
Curfew was at 10pm but the restaurant was clearing out anyway. This may have been due to the fact that, in high spirits after our action-packed day, we had taken the hut’s guitar off the wall and treated everyone to that Proclaimers Alpine classic Sunshine on Leith, managing to get a singalong going with the very up-for-it, very international audience.
The refuge sleeps 4o in 16 rooms. Ours was a spacious affair with bunkbeds, a dainty dormer window and two large cubbyholes each, one for your bag, the other for your stuff – so much more useful than the usual pointless wardrobes and drawers that no one ever unpacks into, since you’ll be gone in a hurry at the crack of dawn.
We reached Santnerpass Hut via the König Laurin cable car, 22 miles (35km) from Bolzano, gateway to the Dolomites. After that, it’s a rising, fairly straight line to the refuge, a two-to-three-hour hike through loose scree, then boulders and pinnacles. But be warned: the last section is a via ferrata, meaning there’s a metal cable for you to clip your harness to, and grab hold of as you reach trickier, more treacherous passages. It’s not for beginners.
I’d heard, though, that there was another route and, keen to take it back down to the cable car, asked at reception. “Yes, there’s another way,” said Romina Huber, who co-owns and runs the hut with her husband (and chef) Michel Perathoner. “It’s not a via ferrata and it’s super beautiful.”
She wasn’t kidding. First it took us past the Vajolet towers, dramatic spires that lure climbers from all over the world. Then we swung right on to a winding path of fine white scree that rises sharply through meadows full of edelweiss, saxifrage, dwarf pine and boulders, leading to bulging cliffs and eventually the Coronelle Pass, an astonishing vantage point at 2,360m.
“Well, that was a walk and a half,” said Mac as we descended in the cable car 30 minutes later, exhausted after the final knee-popping trudge down from the pass on timber-pinned switchbacks. “My boots,” said Nigel, lifting his feet to let us see a rip in one and a sole flapping off the other, “have completely had it.”
Santnerpass Hut starts at €105pp per night, including breakfast and four-course vegetarian dinner
Mountain huts may occasionally be rather luxurious these days, but their original function, still relevant, is survival. There are, as you might expect, several very sensible codes that make great use of words like “respect”, “other users”, and “environment”. My own code is no less worthy and comes from hard-won experience.
No complaining
Huts are not hotels. If there’s a problem, go sort it out. Certainly, never complain about snoring, even when you are convinced it is about to trigger an avalanche. I once did, only to be informed, rather too forcefully, that is was me doing the snoring, an outrageous lie that triggered grunts of approval from other grumpy insomniacs. Gel ear plugs work well.
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It’s sometimes hard to drop the urban habit of self-assertion to ensure survival. One night in a Corsican hut with a shared sleeping platform, an obnoxious Brit in a down bag shoved all the other sleepers into a pile at one end of the bench, claiming later that he was “dreaming of being pushed”. I pray never to run into him again.
Clean up after yourself
… and take your rubbish home. The British Mountain Bothy Code has a good reminder on this point. I’d go even further and say, try to leave absolutely no trace at all. Visiting one treasured wild swimming spot recently, I found the scorch mark of a campfire. Whoever it was had not left any rubbish, and there was nothing to mark their visit, except that dreaded black spot, as if Blind Pew had delivered a death sentence.
The hut is for everyone
I once cycled to a remote Icelandic hut and found it blissfully empty of people. Lighting the fire, I prepared my simple meal, and apart from wishing I had packed a beer, looked forward to a night of splendid isolation. Then a large group of locals arrived. I felt my heart sink. My solitary bliss was gone. They sat down, gave me a beer, and two hours later, after helping to eat their huge delicious feast, I felt like I’d joined a tribe. When a hut generates that kind of gang conviviality, it’s uplifting.
Look after others
In Scandinavia, this is a social habit that is deeply embedded. You turn up in a hut in winter and there are logs because the last visitors left them for you. You cut your finger and they all have the plaster that you forgot to bring. The Norwegian Mountain Code has a list of essential reminders.
Kevin Rushby
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Government bond markets remain under pressure as rising energy prices revive inflation concerns and increase expectations that major central banks will keep interest rates higher for longer.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield briefly touched 5.011% on Monday, according to Dow Jones Market Data, before falling back below 5%. The level was the highest since October 2023.
The yield crossed the psychologically important 5% threshold as higher government borrowing, resilient economic growth and heavy corporate debt issuance linked to artificial intelligence investment compounded pressure on US bonds. Yields move inversely to bond prices.
Rising Treasury yields can feed through to mortgages, corporate loans and other forms of credit, potentially slowing economic growth. They can also make bonds more attractive relative to highly valued equities.
The latest rise followed the US Treasury’s previously announced expansion of its bond-buyback programme. Last week, it offered to purchase up to $6 billion of debt maturing in 10 to 20 years – three times the previous operation’s size.
The yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond, meanwhile, remained close to its highest level since 2007.
The sell-off has also spread across Europe. France’s 10-year government bond yield rose to 4.50% on Monday, while the equivalent Italian yield reached around 4.40%.
Germany’s benchmark 10-year Bund yield climbed as high as 3.538%, according to Dow Jones Market Data, its highest level in 15 years.
Energy prices are a major source of pressure. Brent crude rose to around $107 a barrel on Tuesday morning, while US West Texas Intermediate traded close to $103, as attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and shipping in the Gulf intensified concerns about supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
The European Central Bank raised its deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.5% last week and warned that inflation could remain above its target for an extended period. Markets are pricing in at least one further ECB increase this year.
Attention now turns to three major central-bank decisions. The US Federal Reserve announces its decision on Wednesday, followed by the Bank of England on Thursday and the Bank of Japan on Friday.
A Reuters poll found that 85% of economists expected the Fed to raise rates by 25 basis points, while money markets placed the probability of an increase at around 93%.
The BoE is widely expected to leave rates unchanged. Economists surveyed by Reuters unanimously forecast no change, although some analysts have warned that a surprise increase cannot be ruled out. The BoJ is widely expected to raise borrowing costs.
THEY’RE known for their sexy outfits and saucy scenes, but Bond Girls are just as iconic as 007 himself.
And we may not have long before a new bevvy of beauties turn heads, as the hunt for the next James Bond may now be over.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today show, 007 writer Steven Knight was asked whether he had written the film with the chosen actor in mind or based on what he already knew about the character.
He replied that it was “a bit of both”, seemingly confirming that an actor had been picked.
The next Bond will fill the shoes of Daniel Craig, who last played the secret agent in 2021’s No Time to Die.
Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden remains one of the frontrunners for the coveted role, while a host of other stars have been linked to the part since Craig’s departure.
As fans know, the world’s slickest spy is rarely seen without a glamorous Bond Girl – or three – in tow, but no news has yet been released on who could be in the running.
Many of the show’s most iconic moments centre around 007’s striking counterparts – and here, we look back at some of the original Bond Girls, and where they are now…
Ursula Andress launched the archetype of the Bond Girl as Honey Ryder in 1962’s Dr. No, alongside Sean Connery.
The image of her emerging from the ocean in a white bikini with a knife remains one of the franchise’s most defining moments.
Ursula went on to pose nude for Playboy before starring with Elvis Presley in 1963’s Fun in Acapulco, with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in 4 for Texas, and with Laurence Olivier and Harry Hamlin – the father of her son Dimitri – in 1981’s Clash of the Titans.
After starring in films throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she gradually retired from acting to focus on her art collection and private life.
Ursula, 90, said she felt “such pain” on hearing the news of Connery’s death in 2020 – saying they had “perfect chemistry” on screen.
The actress, who only married once – to American actor John Derek from 1957 until their divorce in 1966 – said: “He was a great man, today men like that just don’t exist, they are all too narcissistic, too taken with themselves.
”Today finding someone like Sean is very difficult. He was a great friend and a fabulous actor.”
Earlier this year, Italian authorities seized £17.3million worth of assets in Tuscany, including property, vineyards and olive groves, which had allegedly been bought with money embezzled from Ursula.
The former Bond Girl had filed a complaint in her native Switzerland alleging a “progressive and significant depletion of her assets” by individuals charged with managing her finances, Italy’s financial crimes police said in a statement.
Brit actress Shirley was hailed as the ultimate sex symbol after suffering the most famous Bond girl fate in the franchise, in 1964’s Goldfinger.
Her character, Jill Masterson, was murdered by being covered in gold paint from head to toe – causing “skin suffocation.”
The iconic scene sparked a rumour she had died in filming, and she even appeared on a 2003 TV show to dispel the myth.
In fact the golden girl, now 89, gave up her career to bring up two children, Grant and Jason, with husband Colin Rowe.
For a character named Solitaire, Jane Seymour’s Bond Girl spends little time alone after meeting 007 and ending up in his bed in Live and Let Die.
A voodoo medium whose psychic powers depend on her virginity, she is seduced by Roger Moore’s Bond and loses her unique gift in the process.
The British star, who recently turned 75, went on to star in East of Eden, the TV series Dr Quinn Medicine Woman and The War with Grandpa, with Robert de Niro.
Outside of acting, she has built a massive lifestyle brand, written self-help books, and launched significant charitable foundations.
Jane has been married four times, and was left “beyond bankrupt” by property deals involving second husband David Flynn.
In 2018, the mum-of-four became the oldest woman to pose for Playboy, at the age of 67.
The spread came 45 years after appearing in the magazine the year she did Bond, and she said she now feels sexier than ever.
Swedish Britt Ekland brought charisma and comedic timing to her role as MI6 operative Mary Goodnight in 1974’s The Man with the Golden Gun opposite Roger Moore.
Needless to say her duties as Bond’s PA went beyond taking notes and keeping his diary – and a ‘good night’ was had by all.
Beyond 007, she was a regular fixture of 1970s pop culture, famous for her high-profile romances and busy film career.
She divorced comedian Peter Sellers, father to daughter Victoria in 1968, after a four-year marriage.
She went on to have a son with record producer Lou Adler and a high profile romance with Rod Stewart, which ended in 1977 after two years.
At 42, she married Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom, who was 23 at the time. They divorced in 1992.
Following Bond, she went on to star in the comedy Royal Flash and the 1989 movie Scandal, as well as a host of TV Miniseries, including Valley of the Dolls.
In 2010, she took part in I’m A Celebrity…, falling out with fainting campmate Gillian McKeith, and also appeared in The Real Marigold Hotel.
Britt, now 83, has also spoken candidly in recent years about “destroying her looks” with lip fillers in her 50s.
Barbara Bach broke the mold of the traditional damsel in distress by playing the formidable Soviet agent Anya Amasova in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me.
Despite attempting to murder Bond on their first meeting, inevitably, the pair end up as lovers, and the film ends with them floating off to sea in an escape pod after defeating evil Russian Karl Stromberg at his secret sea base.
In real life, she did float off into the sunset with another British icon – The Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr – after divorcing her first husband, who was an Italian count.
As well as starring in a handful of films, Barbara co-founded charity, the Lotus Foundation, alongside her husband, who she wed in 1981.
Since stepping out of the spotlight, Barbara, who is now 80, earned a degree in psychology and devoted her life to humanitarian work.
Singer Grace Jones turned the Bond universe on its head as the fierce, muscular, fashion-forward villain May Day in 1985’s A View to a Kill.
In the Roger Moore film, she played the memorable henchwoman to villain Zorin.
Jamaica-born Grace was already a household name when she took the role in 1985.
She went on to release her iconic album Slave To The Rhythm the year after.
Grace, now 78, dated former bodyguard Dolph Lundgren and launched his acting career by getting him a role in the Bond film.
She has had one brief marriage – to Atila Altaunbay – and has a son by graphic designer Jean Paul Goude.
Not one to settle into retirement, she has maintained a legendary career as a music star and continues to tour and perform at music festivals.
With her martial arts skills and speed in a motorbike chase, Michelle Yeoh’s character Wai Lin certainly kept Pierce Brosnan on his toes in Tomorrow Never Dies.
Performing her own dangerous stunts, she redefined what an action heroine could be in a modern blockbuster.
Her Bond turn opened doors to global stardom, leading to acclaimed roles in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Crazy Rich Asians, Avatar, and recently, Wicked.
In 2023, she made history by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Michelle, 64, lives with former rally driver Jean Todt.
Starring as Jinx Johnson, opposite Pierce Brosnan’s suave spy, Halle spent a good deal of her time in a bikini and upped her fan base in the process.
But she wasn’t just a pretty face in 2002’s Die Another Day.
Jinx was a trained assassin sent to kill a North Korean agent, and bedded Bond to get the information she needed to carry out her deadly task.
Before starring in Bond, she already had a Best Actress Oscar win under her belt, for Monster’s Ball in 2001.
She went on to play Storm in the X-Men movies, and appear in Moonfall and The Mothership.
Over the two decades since, she has built an expansive career as a Hollywood A-lister, action star, film producer, and director.
In her personal life, Halle, 60, has been married three times and is now engaged to singer Van Hunt.
In 2012, Halle went through a bitter custody battle with former partner Gabriel Aubry over their daughter, Nala, born in 2008.
She also has a son with third husband Olivier Martinez, although they separated in 2015, after two years of marriage.
In 2000, Halle pleaded no contest to charges of leaving the scene of a car accident in Hollywood, and was sentenced to three years’ probation, fined $13,500 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
Earlier this year, the Oscar winner says she is having “the most amazing sex” with Van after her three divorces and is now with the “love of her life”.
A TOP screenwriter working on the new James Bond film has let slip that the role may already have been cast and the audition process completed.
The identity of the next 007 remains shrouded in mystery, but Steven Knight appeared to suggest a decision had been made.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today show, the Peaky Blinders creator was asked whether he had written the film with the chosen actor in mind or based on what he already knew about the character.
He replied that it was “a bit of both”, seemingly confirming that an actor had been picked.
Steven added: “It does make life a little bit easier if you know who that person is, but also you have to write the character, not the actor.”
He went on to discuss the honour of writing for such an iconic franchise.
Steven said: “The thing with Bond is that it’s its own universe and its own franchise, so there are certain rules.
“Obviously, you have to move it along, but I love where it sits.
“I love that it’s British and it’s not DC or Marvel. The only thing I can say is I feel like I’m doing my duty for King and country.
“It’s something that, if you’re a British writer, you have to do.”
The next Bond will fill the shoes of Daniel Craig, who last played the secret agent in 2021’s No Time to Die.
Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden remains one of the frontrunners for the coveted role, while a host of other stars have been linked to the part since Craig’s departure.
Jack’s co-star Gary Oldman also appeared to fuel speculation during a recent TV appearance on Canada’s The Morning Show.
Discussing rumours that Lowden was on the shortlist, he told the host: “We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we? Because they have picked him.”
The Oscar winner then doubled down, saying: “They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet.”
Robert Way
Hyperscalers and Nvidia (NVDA) had become a much larger source of long-duration debt issuance relative to the U.S. Treasury in 2026, according to a chart posted by Global Macro.
The chart showed hyperscaler and Nvidia debt issuance, including special-purpose vehicles, had risen
Borrowing costs across some of Europe’s biggest economies have surged to their highest levels in more than 15 years, as a renewed sell-off in global bond markets gathers pace.
The global bond rout pushed Germany’s benchmark borrowing costs to a 15-year high on Tuesday, with France, Italy and the Netherlands all seeing similarly steep rises.
Germany’s 10-year Bund climbed above 3.36% on Tuesday, according to Trading Economics. Later, the yield went down a bit and traded at around 3.34%.
Bond yields move inversely to prices. When investors sell bonds, prices fall, and because a bond’s fixed interest payment becomes worth more relative to that lower price, the effective yield rises.
In short — the more bonds get sold, the more it costs governments to borrow.
Sovereign debt came under renewed pressure as rising oil prices and increasingly hawkish signals from major central banks reinforced bets that interest rates will stay higher for longer.
The yield on Germany’s 30-year Bund surged above 3.84%, also its highest level since 2011. The French 10-year OAT yield rose to its highest level since November 2008, trading slightly above 4.215% at around 10.45 CEST on Tuesday. The equivalent Italian yield was trading slightly lower at 4.188 at the same time.
At the same time, the Dutch 10-year government bond yield increased to 3.43%, its highest level since May 2011. Spain’s 10-year yield climbed above 3.80%, its highest level since November 2023.
Investors are concerned that rising energy prices will fuel inflation around the world, potentially prompting interest-rate increases by central banks in the US, Japan and the eurozone, among others.
These concerns were reinforced in the eurozone on Tuesday morning, as the latest flash inflation data from Eurostat showed that energy prices were 14.3% higher than a year earlier. This helped push eurozone inflation to 3.3% in August, up from 2.9% in July. This is significantly above the ECB’s 2% target.
The central bank is due to hold its next monetary policy meeting next week, and most investors are betting on a 25-basis-point rate hike.
Leo Barincou, senior economist at Oxford Economics, said: “With inflation still accelerating, the ECB is all but certain to hike at next week’s meeting, in line with our expectations.”
Looking at the largest European economies, analysts say Germany’s Bund has moved largely in line with global benchmarks, while France faces an additional risk premium because of its political and fiscal outlook.
French 10-year borrowing costs have exceeded Italy’s for much of the summer, as France increasingly replaces Italy as the main focus of European debt concerns.
According to the IMF, France’s gross government debt is projected to reach 118.4% of GDP this year and 120.5% in 2027. France currently has the third-highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the EU, after Greece and Italy.
The Banque de France expects the budget deficit to reach 5.2% of GDP this year. Difficult budget negotiations ahead of the 2027 presidential election have raised doubts about the government’s ability to reverse this trend.
Robert Timper, BCA’s chief fixed-income strategist, previously told Euronews Business: “We have held the view for some time that France is the country in the euro area with the most unsustainable fiscal outlook, and its borrowing cost should reflect that.”
“To get back to a sustainable fiscal path, France needs to do substantial reforms, which will be unpopular as they will curtail welfare spending,” Timper said. “A large political majority is therefore necessary for such reforms, or a bond market riot will force reforms.”
Expectations of persistently high inflation and rising borrowing costs also pushed the yield on 10-year US Treasuries to its highest level since January 2025. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was trading at around 4.78% on Tuesday.
In the US, higher energy prices have added to already stubborn inflation, which remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Inflation has weighed on household spending and consumer confidence, complicating the Fed’s decisions on interest rates.
According to Bloomberg, traders raised the probability of a September US rate hike to about 70%, extending a repricing that began last week when Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh doubled down on a pledge to tame inflation.
The sell-off also spread to Asia, where Japan’s benchmark 10-year government bond yield reached 3.00% for the first time since 1996.
Government bonds have traditionally been seen as safe-haven assets during periods of uncertainty.
That role is being tested as investors become increasingly concerned that global conflicts and higher energy prices could produce a prolonged period of stagflation — a combination of high inflation and weak or zero economic growth.
JAMES Bond could see it’s first ever husband and wife casting as Saoirse Ronan pitches for a villain role – and Jack Lowden is up for 007.
The actress, 32, who tied the knot with Jack in 2024, has teased that she could be in the upcoming blockbuster Bond 26.
Lady Bird star Saoirse recently told Empire magazine: “I want to go dark. I said that I wanted to be a Bond villain, and I’m dead serious.
“I think it would be really interesting, having a young, female villain.
“Especially for girls and women, to see someone who can just take all that pent-up anger and direct it somewhere.”
The pair welcomed their first baby into the world after being spotted with a pram in public back in September last year.
Her husband has been tipped as one of the stars to take on the role of James Bond, following on from Daniel Craig, who has played agent for the last 15 years.
Jack has been a huge fan favourite since taking on the role of MI5 agent River Cartwright in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses.
He’s also been in the likes of Pride and Prejudice, The Gold, War & Peace, The Long Song, Wolf Hall, Mrs Biggs and The Tunnel.
Meanwhile Saoirse has starred in Little Women, Lady Bird, The Lovely Bones, Hanna and Mary Queen of Scots.
There are some pretty huge names in the mix for the next Bond.
The likes of Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner, Harris Dickinson, Anthony Boyle and Tom Hardy have been some of the names.
And New Brit actor Jack Barton has been thrown in there too.
It comes shortly after The Sun exclusively revealed that the new 007 writer shared an unexpected update on the Bond script.
The upcoming film could possibly relocate from MI6 in London to Birmingham.
Its writer Steven Knight has a long-standing love affair with the Midlands, the home of his smash hit Peaky Blinders and drama This Town.
The screen giant is considering a Brummie background for the spy’s next outing.
Steven told The Sun: “I’m loving working on the Bond film — I’m tempted to set it in Birmingham.
“I’m always tempted to do that on everything I work on!”
Knight has been drafted in by Amazon MGM Studios, which bought creative control of the Bond franchise for £790million last year.
Sharing an update at the launch of the Peaky Blinders Underworld immersive game, he went on: “Writing this film is like working for King and country. I feel like it’s my duty.
“Seriously, I’m such a big fan of the whole Bond franchise. To be able to be the person who is writing the next one is genuinely an honour and it’s a dream.
“Making Peaky Blinders has been amazing and doing Bond is beyond that.”
