--- title: David Oyelowo Will Read James Bond Audiobook description: The actor will play the superspy in an upcoming audiobook canonical: https://time.com/3996019/david-oyelowo-james-bond-audiobook/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-13T14:33:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:03.607Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: David Oyelowo Is Officially the Next James Bond (Sort of) og:description: The actor will play the superspy in an upcoming audiobook og:url: https://time.com/3996019/david-oyelowo-james-bond-audiobook/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5eb653b9a65f9857/69885f150b72e35d986e55db/david-oyelowo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: David Oyelowo attends the Variety Purpose Summit in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 25, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: David Oyelowo Is Officially the Next James Bond (Sort of) twitter:description: The actor will play the superspy in an upcoming audiobook twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5eb653b9a65f9857/69885f150b72e35d986e55db/david-oyelowo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # David Oyelowo Is Officially the Next James Bond (Sort of)  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 13, 2015 2:33 PM UTC  David Oyelowo attends the Variety Purpose Summit in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 25, 2015. David Oyelowo attends the Variety Purpose Summit in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 25, 2015.Paras Griffin--FilmMagic  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 13, 2015 2:33 PM UTC David Oyelowo [announced](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/13/david-oyelowo-first-black-actor-james-bond-trigger-mortis-audiobook) Wednesday that he will join the long line of actors—from Roger Moore to Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan to Daniel Craig—who have portrayed Ian Fleming’s legendary secret agent, James Bond. But the role won’t require Oyelowo to don Bond’s dapper formalwear, as he’s booked not for a movie but an audiobook. Oyelowo was asked by Fleming’s estate to voice Bond and other characters in the audiobook version of _Trigger Mortis_, a forthcoming novel by Anthony Horowitz commissioned by Fleming’s estate. The book, to be published Sept. 8, picks up two weeks after _Goldfinger_ left off, in 1957, and reunites Bond with Pussy Galore. Oyelowo, who has worked as an actor for more than 15 years, rose to fame for his depiction of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s _Selma_, released in 2014\. Though he won’t appear onscreen, he will be the first black actor to portray Bond. And as he is scheduled only for the audiobook, fans still hoping that those [Idris Elba rumors](http://time.com/3814738/idris-elba-james-bond-daniel-craig-rumors/) might pan out need not feel threatened by the news—the Bond family is ever expanding. ### Meet Every James Bond Ever  Dr. No (1962) - Sean Connery United Artists  From Russia with Love (1963) - Sean Connery United Artists  Goldfinger (1964) - Sean Connery United Artists  Thunderball (1965) - Sean Connery United Artists  You Only Live Twice (1967) - Sean Connery United Artists  On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - George Lazenby United Artists  Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Sean Connery United Artists  Live and Let Die (1973) - Roger Moore United Artists  The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) - Roger Moore United Artists  The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Roger Moore United Artists  Moonraker (1979) - Roger Moore United Artists  For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Roger Moore United Artists  Octopussy (1983) - Roger Moore United Artists  A View to a Kill (1985) - Roger Moore United Artists  The Living Daylights (1987) - Timothy Dalton United Artists  Licence to Kill (1989) - Timothy Dalton United Artists  GoldenEye (1995) - Pierce Brosnan MGM  Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - Pierce Brosnan MGM  The World Is Not Enough (1999) - Pierce Brosnan MGM  Die Another Day (2002) - Pierce Brosnan MGM  Casino Royale (2006) - Daniel Craig MGM/Columbia  Quantum of Solace (2008) - Daniel Craig MGM/Columbia  Skyfall (2012) - Daniel Craig MGM/Columbia ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3996019/david-oyelowo-james-bond-audiobook/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3996019/david-oyelowo-james-bond-audiobook/"},"headline":"David Oyelowo Is Officially the Next James Bond (Sort of)","datePublished":"2015-08-13T14:33:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:03.607Z","description":"The actor will play the superspy in an upcoming audiobook","url":"https://time.com/3996019/david-oyelowo-james-bond-audiobook/","keywords":["movies","Books","James Bond"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5eb653b9a65f9857/69885f150b72e35d986e55db/david-oyelowo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5eb653b9a65f9857/69885f150b72e35d986e55db/david-oyelowo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"David Oyelowo attends the Variety Purpose Summit in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 25, 2015.","caption":"David Oyelowo attends the Variety Purpose Summit in Los Angeles, Calif. on June 25, 2015.","creditText":"Paras Griffin--FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3996019/david-oyelowo-james-bond-audiobook/","name":"David Oyelowo Is Officially the Next James Bond (Sort of)"}}]}] ```