More hints that Tom Hiddleston is angling for Bond role

Tom Hiddleston is in LA with Taylor Swift, and the talk is that he could be meeting with James Bond producers about the iconic role.

Hiddleston is said to be in the running to play the next Bond, along with actors including Jack Huston, Tom Hardy and Idris Elba, who this week claimed he is too old to play 007.

Huston — who stars in “Ben-Hur,” out on Aug. 19 — has previously worked with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli on a London play. The British actor, whose aunt is Anjelica Huston, starred in “Strangers on a Train” at the Gielgud Theatre in late 2013, which was co-produced by Broccoli.

A Hollywood source tells us that Bond producers and MGM are not in an urgent rush to cast the new Bond because the distribution rights for the franchise are up for sale following the end of a multimovie pact with Sony Pictures.

The source says, “No casting for the next James Bond movie will be decided on until the deal for the distribution rights has been done.”

Meanwhile, there are still bad feelings between Bond bosses and the most recent star Daniel Craig, who famously said he “would rather break this glass and slit my wrists” than play 007 again. Another source added, “Producers think that ungracious comment, right before the release of ‘Spectre,’ cost them tens of millions at the box office. They’re ready to forget about Daniel.”