James Bond: THIS star's odds of replacing Daniel Craig SLASHED 'He's a leading candidate'

One contender to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond himself has been branded a “leading contender” by bookmakers Coral. The company say they have been “inundated” by bets on Cillian Murphy – the Peaky Blinders frontman who will soon be seen in a brand new season of the hit drama. So could he be sneaking up on Tom Hiddleston and Richard Madden as the outright favourite for Craig’s successor?

His odds have now been cut right down to 4/1, down from 6/1.

Just weeks ago, other bookmakers had Murphy listed as far afield as 25/1 – so his odds have been slashed by quite some distance.

“Everybody is getting excited about the new series of Peaky Blinders and it seems as though punters are no different,” a Coral rep said.

“We’ve been inundated with bets lately on Murphy landing the role as the next James Bond and he’s certainly a leading candidate now.”

The only contenders ahead of him are Hiddleston (6/4) and Madden (3/1); and Murphy is tied with James Norton.

Behind them, Idris Elba has drifted out to 8/1 alongside Tom Hardy.

Aidan Turner is on 14/1, while Henry Cavill is priced at 16/1 and Jack Huston is on 20/1.

Of course we are still more than a year – likely at least two – away from producer Barbara Broccoli formally hiring her next Bond.

source: express.co.uk