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With his bald head and huge riches, Jeff Bezos has at least some of the attributes of a Bond villain.
And yet, as far as the movie franchise is concerned, the Amazon boss appears to be playing the good guy.
His company bought the rights to James Bond earlier this year for £790million and has already announced that a new 007 film will be directed by Dune director Denis Villeneuve.
What’s more, Bezos appears to be using his cash and influence to back one of the hottest names in Hollywood to play the next Bond girl – Sydney Sweeney.
He’s reportedly been pushing for the 28-year-old blonde bombshell to step into the role of 007’s love interest – and he is also said to have plunged some of his considerable fortune into her upcoming lingerie range.
Those rumours intensified after The White Lotus actress attended Bezos’s wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Venice in June.
Jeff Bezos appears to be using his cash and influence to back one of the hottest names in Hollywood to play the next Bond girl – Sydney Sweeney (pictured on Monday evening)
He’s reportedly been pushing for the 28-year-old blonde bombshell to step into the role of 007’s love interest (L-R: Sydney Sweeney, Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos in March)
Now, Sweeney – who dazzled in a white Stella McCartney mini dress at the Savannah Film Festival in Georgia on Monday – has addressed the Bond speculation herself for the first time.
Asked about the rumours in an interview with Variety, the entertainment industry’s business magazine, she appeared to be holding back.
‘I can’t,’ she said, before pausing for a few seconds. ‘I don’t know,’ she continued. ‘To be honest, I don’t know all the Bond rumours, but I’ve always been a huge fan of the franchise, and I’m excited and curious to see what they do with it. Depends on the script.’
The actress then added, perhaps only half in jest: ‘I think I’d have more fun as James Bond.’
A movie source said: ‘Sydney is the top name on the casting sheet for Bond. ‘Denis [Villeneuve] believes she is hugely talented, as well as having an alluring appeal to younger generations, vital in modernising the franchise.
‘They’ve hung out together a lot and he has admired her stratospheric rise. Plus, she has the quality of being athletic and able to perform physical scenes, as well as being feminine and following in the legacy of Bond Girls.’
Meanwhile, Bezos and his wife have apparently invested ‘seed money’ in a private equity business which will help Sweeney ‘launch a lingerie line very soon’.
‘This has been a huge project for her and something she’s been working on for the last year,’ a source told US Weekly.
, Bezos and his wife have apparently invested ‘seed money’ in a private equity business which will help Sweeney ‘launch a lingerie line very soon’
With his bald head and huge riches, Bezos has at least some of the attributes of a Bond villain
The lingerie line is being backed by Ben Schwerin, a partner at private equity firm Coatue.
The company recently received a £770million investment from Bezos and fellow tech giant Michael Dell via their Coatue Innovation Fund.
Despite its takeover of the Bond movie franchise, Amazon has yet to find a replacement for Daniel Craig, who played the spy from 2008 to 2021.
But Aaron Taylor Johnson and Henry Cavill have had their hopes well and truly dashed after it has emerged that an unknown actor will be cast as the next Bond.
Rather than choosing from the UK’s overflowing pool of A-list talent, director Villeneuve is reportedly keen to find a ‘fresh face’ to play 007.
