Three years ago, 007 fans were promised “James Bond will return” as the credits rolled on Daniel Craig’s final film as the celebrated super-spy, No Time to Die.

But since the end of the 2021 which showed Ian Fleming’s hugely popular secret agent apparently dying in a massive explosion, there has been little solid evidence of the promised return.

That may be about to change, though, with an announcement from producers EON Films expected in the next couple of months. And the news, when it comes could bring updates on more than one James Bond movie.

Entertainment lawyer, and Bond superfan, Ajay Chowdhury predicts that the formal announcement of a new Bond project could come from producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson on November 17, when they are expected to be presented with the Irving G Thalberg award.

Since the last Bond film appeared on screens, the franchise’s business philosophy behind the scenes has drastically changed. Since Amazon acquired MGM in May 2021, picking up a substantial chunk of the Bond rights as part of the purchase, Broccoli and Wilson are working in a very different environment, with the potential to plan much further ahead than the ageing Hollywood studio would have permitted.

Ajay told the Sunday Times that a close analogy would be Disney’s acquisition of the Star Wars franchise: “When Disney bought Lucasfilm there wasn’t a film for three years. Tonnes of work is being done, it’s just not sexy things like scripts.”

In the same way, he says, the next Bond movie could be further along than the headlines might suggest, and that the announcement could bring news of an entire three-part arc of films. “When Barbara Broccoli says they have no script, I think that’s technically true. They’ve got a concept and a plan to reinvent the franchise. They’re not going to make a one-off film and see how it does at the cinema like they did in the past.”

Nevertheless, we shouldn’t expect to see the next Bond film in cinemas until at least two years after the cameras start rolling – and even if Broccoli and Wilson do announce a title, and a brand new James Bond, in November, the earliest we could see 007 receive his next mission from M would be late 2027.

And what will Bond look like? Despite endless rumours that Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be next to pick up the vodka martini, a number of other actors are reportedly under consideration – including 34-year-old Jack Lowden, about to return this week as River Cartwright in distinctly different espionage series Slow Horses.

Jay doesn’t think it matters that Bond was apparently killed off in his 25th outing:“They never really bothered with continuity. I don’t think they’ll try to explain it.

“When the general public get to the cinema and they watch a great stunt, they’re not going to be thinking: ‘But didn’t he die?’”