Riz Ahmed reveals that former James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli gave her "blessing" to his new comedy-drama, where he portrays an actor being considered for the iconic spy role.
Bait is a six-part comedy-drama coming to Prime Video in March, following "struggling actor" Shah Latif (Ahmed) over "four wild days" after viral reports emerge that he is in the running for 007.
As "the entire world" voices their opinions on his potential casting, viewers will see how Shah's personal life "spirals out of control" as he's faced with "his last chance to hit it big".
The series comes at a very appropriate time, given that the James Bond franchise is currently missing a leading man, and has been since Daniel Craig's definitive send-off in 2021's No Time to Die.
View oEmbed on the source websiteIf that wasn't enough, the Bond machine had to weather more fundamental change, when historic film studio MGM was purchased by Amazon, and longtime franchise producers Broccoli and Michael G Wilson later relinquished their control.
Prior to that shock move, Ahmed told Deadline at the Sundance Film Festival that he had spoken to Broccoli about Bait, even though it isn't strictly a 'James Bond show' (the likes of which have been expected since Amazon took over).
Rather, the Rogue One and Phoenician Scheme star considers Bait to be "about that crazy distance between our public and our private selves".
He explained: "On the outside, it's like, 'Wow, you're killing it man. You're doing great...' [But in reality,] you're broke. These things happen, these contradictions between how we're perceived, how we want to be perceived, and how we are.
"That's what the show is really about. It was through discussing with my co-showrunner Ben Karlin, we were talking about our lives, our experiences, funny anecdotes, and the Bond thing came up."
Ahmed continued: "And I was like, 'Actually, that's the perfect aspirational symbol that can help drive the story of someone who aspires to be someone else'.
"That's not where the show grew out of, but it was a conversation with Barbara Broccoli, who understood that and understood the show's not really about that. And yet, gave her blessing, she really loved the script."
Broccoli sold her controlling stake over Bond (inherited from her father's production company EON) in February 2025, prompting shock from fans and the industry after decades of protective stewardship.
Since then, work on the next James Bond film has ramped up, with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight writing the script, and Dune director Denis Villeneuve set to lead the project. As for that all-important casting, it remains a mystery.
Bait is coming to Prime Video on Wednesday 25th March 2026. Sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime Video and pay £8.99 a month after that.
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