\t\tVegas Says Taylor-Johnson Is the Next Bond. Don\u2019t Bet on It\t<\/p>\n
\n\tJames Bond certainly knows his way around a casino, but even he might raise an eyebrow at who oddsmakers are betting will play him next. According to the latest probabilities from gambling site VegasInsider, Aaron Taylor-Johnson<\/a> is now the clear favorite to slip into 007\u2019s tux, with odds hovering around 2.4-to-1.<\/p>\n \n\tBut before anyone bets the house on the 35-year-old Kick-Ass actor, industry sources note the game hasn\u2019t really begun \u2014 the cards haven\u2019t even been dealt. In fact, Taylor-Johnson\u2019s frontrunner status may owe less to spy-craft than to spin-craft. His odds have been clearly boosted by a string of U.K. press leaks \u2014 most notably in The Sun, which has been touting him as the next Bond ever since Daniel Craig holstered his Walther PPK. In late 2022, the tabloid quoted \u201cinsiders\u201d claiming Taylor-Johnson had \u201cimpressed\u201d producer Barbara Broccoli during a \u201ctop-secret screen test\u201d at Pinewood Studios.<\/p>\n \n\tA few months later, another so-called insider claimed: \u201cBond is Aaron\u2019s job, should he wish to accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut Rambling\u2019s own insiders point out a few issues with that narrative. Historically, Bond screen tests are tightly controlled 007 rituals \u2014 usually involving a scene out of From Russia With Love \u2014 and they don\u2019t happen until a director is on board. And in 2022, there was no director. (Denis Villeneuve wasn\u2019t hired until June.) Besides, even if Taylor-Johnson had knocked Broccoli\u2019s socks off at that supposed 2022 test, that shouldn\u2019t be influencing his odds in 2025 \u2014 Broccoli and her half brother Michael G. Wilson sold the franchise to Amazon earlier this year. These days, it\u2019s Amy Pascal\u2019s socks that need knocking off. She\u2019s running\u00a0Bond\u00a0now.<\/p>\n \n\tVegas handicappers also might have been swayed by a round of recent online tea-leaf reading after Taylor-Johnson\u2019s auspiciously timed deal to become a global ambassador for Omega \u2014 the official Bond timepiece \u2014 back in May. That was seen by some as a clear sign the role was his. It wasn\u2019t. Otherwise, past Omega ambassadors like Nicole Kidman, George Clooney and Zo\u00eb Kravitz would\u2019ve been zipping around in Aston Martins years ago.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat VegasInsider isn\u2019t factoring in is that all of the above \u2014 the leaks, the whispers, the watch deal \u2014 might actually be hurting Taylor-Johnson\u2019s chances. As Rambling\u2019s insider puts it: \u201cThe more you push for the role, the more it can backfire. Wanting it too much can be the best way not to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tRealReal Robbery Was Really Real. But SMPD Says Nothing to See Here\t<\/p>\n \n\tTimes are so tough these days, even the criminals are thrifting.<\/p>\n \n\tOn July 18, in the latest affront to Santa Monica, more than a dozen masked marauders stormed the RealReal secondhand luxury boutique on 26th Street \u2014 near the Brentwood border \u2014 where celebrities from Kim Kardashian and Julianne Moore to Parker Posey and Kate Moss are said to unload their no-longer-needed Herm\u00e8s, Cartier and Rolex accessories. It was a brazen, broad-daylight smash-and-grab: Surveillance cameras captured the crew looting high-end resale items and loading them into getaway cars with the license plates removed.<\/p>\n \n\tThis marks the third flash-mob-style hit on the same store in three years \u2014 but unlike the previous break-ins, no arrests have yet been made. In fact, investigators are now looking into whether the crew might be linked to a similar gang that hit an Anaheim jeweler just one day earlier. In that case, thieves wielding hammers and pickaxes were chased off when the store owner fired a warning shot.<\/p>\n \n\tA spokesperson for the Santa Monica Police Department tells Rambling that detectives are \u201caware of the recent incident in Anaheim and are coordinating with law enforcement partners to assess any potential connections\u201d \u2014 adding, without prompting, that any perceived increase in criminal activity is purely imaginary. \u201cWe have not seen a recent spike in organized retail thefts in Santa Monica,\u201d the spokesperson insists. \u2014 MERLE GINSBERG<\/p>\n \t\tA Jaw-Dropping Screening at Comic-Con \u2026 Literally\t<\/p>\n