Amazon Prime is certainly making the most of that James Bond intellectual property they forked out for.
The so-called home of 007 is not only cranking out a new film with Denis Villeneuve on board to direct, but has already started to flex its muscles with the spin-off potential of the franchise.
In addition to a reality show 007: Road to a Million (voiced by Brian Cox), the streamer has just shared a teaser for Bait, which kicks off when an actor scores the audition of a lifetime, for the coveted role of Ian Fleming’s agent.
Except, instead of jumpstarting his career, the audition is picked up by the press and causes a four-day firestorm for the acting hopeful.
Who is the struggling actor in question? Shah Latif, who is played by Riz Ahmed, which has prompted a slew of fans online to hypothesise that this could suggest the Four Lions star is in the running for the real job. It does seem like one hell of a hint.
The Brit star is not only heading up the cast, but also serving as co-showrunner and writer on the six-parter, which is set to drop for Prime subscribers from March 25.
With a premise that is already drawing comparisons to last year’s hit Apple comedy The Studio, Bait follows Latif over the course of four insane days, in which his life ‘spirals out of control’.
The Amazon synopsis teases: ‘His family, ex-lover, and the entire world weigh in on whether he is the right man for the job.’
The streamer dropped a first-look clip at the show, which quickly went viral on X (RIP Twitter) and has left fans wondering if this could be the soft-launch of one of the potential Bond picks.
Re-posting the teaser, one fan questions whether this was actually Ahmed’s backdoor attempt at auditioning for the role, while Aaminah wrote: ‘Okay this would be a funny way to announce him as Bond I can’t lie,’ while Brooke said it would be a ‘crazy way’ to announce the lucky new actor.
Bait: Key details
Showrunners
Riz Ahmed and Ben Karlin
Cast
Riz Ahmed as Shah Latif, Guz Khan as Zulfi, Sheeba Chaddha as Tahira, Sajid Hasan as Parvez, Aasiya Shah as Q, Weruche Opia as Felicia, Ritu Arya as Yasmin
Runtime
6 episodes
Release date
March 25
Where to stream
Amazon Prime Video
J tweeted: ‘Hilarious way to end this show would to just at the very end go “Riz Ahmed will return as James Bond 007 In Denis Villeneuve’s __”.’
Other users praised the inventive premise – given the rampant speculation around who will succeed Daniel Craig in the role – as well as the authenticity of Latif’s British-Pakistani family in the scene.
In the teaser, which also features Guz Khan and Sheeba Chaddha, we see the family’s frantic reaction to the leaked news that he has auditioned for the Bond role.
Bait premieres on Amazon Prime Video on March 25.
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