Sean Connery may still be Britain’s favourite Bond, but Daniel Craig is closing the gap – especially among women and young people
Daniel Craig will return for his fourth James Bond, with filming of the next in the series, called Spectre, now confirmed to be underway. Sam Mendes, director of the previous Bond, will return for the latest edition, bringing the style which led some critics to call Skyfall the “best Bond film ever”.
After years of Sean Connery dominating the title of best Bond actor, new YouGov research finds that the latest Bond is closing the gap.
Across the board, Sean Connery, the second longest-running Bond after Roger Moore, has lost popularity since YouGov’s last Bond survey in 2012, conducted before the release of Skyfall. Among women and over-60s he has dropped 11%, and 12% among 40-59 year olds.
Daniel Craig, on the other hand, has continued as the favourite Bond for 18-24 year-olds, though by a greater margin (14%, up from 4%). 25-39 year-olds also prefer him now, and women place him almost equally to Sean Connery (23% and 24% respectively).
However the surprising new Q – younger, hi-tech, precocious – played by Ben Whishaw, has yet to surpass the nation’s favourite, and longest running Q by far, Desmond Llewelyn. Only 7% name Whishaw as their favourite Q, compared to 37% of Llewelyn.
Spectre is one of four classic action movie series to have had a sequel announced in recent months. New Star Wars, Terminator and Jurassic Park films will all be released in the next few years, and teaser trailers are now available. But among those who are looking forward to them, the new Bond has roused the most excitement: 23% are excited about Spectre, compared to 16% for Star Wars, 5% for Terminator and 10% for Jurassic Park.
