Suave Orlando lands teenage 007 role

Orlando Bloom has been tipped to play a young James Bond in a movie series designed to endear the suave master spy to younger viewers.

The series, backed by Miramax and DreamWorks, would be based on a series of young 007 novels, which began this year with Silverfin.

In the book, a teenage James Bond spends a holiday at a remote castle where he soon comes upon a mystery involving killer eels and an arms tycoon conducting genetic experiments.

"I love the idea, in principle, as he can be far more adventurous and do more stunts," Bloom said. "This is as near as I think I will get to playing the grown-up James for the next 20 years."