Director Danny Boyle has backed Robert Pattinson as the next James Bond.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Boyle had been in the directing chair for the upcoming Bond film but quit last year, blaming “creative differences”.
Daniel Craig will reprise his role as 007 in that movie, however the spy’s future is unclear.
And Boyle believes Pattinson, who will be the next Batman, is the perfect fit.
He told the Guardian he saw the 33-year-old in Claire Denis’s science fiction drama film High Life, adding: “And it was so bizarre, because I was sitting there thinking: ‘Oh my God, they should get him to be the next Bond’.”
Asked if former Twilight star Pattinson was too young to play Bond, Boyle replied: “No, no. He must be in his 30s. How old was Connery? He’s ready now.”
Boyle, who burst on to the scene after directing 1996 black comedy Trainspotting before winning a best director Oscar for 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire, walked out of the upcoming untitled Bond film in August last year.
He was working on a screenplay by John Hodge, who also worked on Trainspotting.
However, a joint statement from star Craig and producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said Boyle was no longer directing.
Boyle said: “I was with John and they didn’t really like what we were doing and so it’s far better to part company.
“What we were doing was good. But it was obviously not what they wanted.”
Boyle’s latest film, Yesterday, is out now.