Cillian Murphy could soon be taking on one of the most coveted roles in cinema to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond.

The Irish actor, 41, has had his odds slashed from 33/1 to 12/1 to play the iconic 007 agent after it was reported Danny Boyle is in talks to direct Craig’s final outing as the British spy.

Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes said: “Boyle and Murphy have collaborated in the past, and the betting suggests punters are putting two and two together for the next 007 film.

“Fans of Peaky Blinders would love to see Tommy Shelby become James Bond.”

Boyle and Murphy previously collaborated on 28 Days Later and Sunshine.

Variety reported earlier this week that Boyle has long been a favourite of MGM and Eon to helm Bond 25. The franchise has a history of directors working on multiple titles including Sam Mendes, Terence Young and Guy Hamilton.

Tom Hardy, who starred alongside Murphy in hit BBC show Peaky Blinders, recently had his odds slashed to take over from James Norton in the race to play the famous spy.

Hardy and Norton are the current joint 3/1 favourites. Fellow actor Jack Huston is the third favourite with odds of 6/1.

Norton previously shut down talk of taking on Bond, telling fans to “keep you money in your pockets” after he became the odds on favourite to replace Craig in the wake of his role in BBC spy drama, McMafia.

Daniel Craig - In pictures 50 show all Daniel Craig - In pictures 1/50 An early publicity shot ahead of Casino Royale's release 2/50 Footage featured during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games starring Daniel Craig playing James Bond escorting The Queen through the corridors of Buckingham Palace 3/50 Daniel Craig emerges from the waves in Casino Royale in 2006 4/50 Daniel Craig kisses his actress wife Rachel Weisz while they attend The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund's Royal Film Performance 2015 of the 24th James Bond Adventure, "Spectre" at Royal Albert Hall Getty Images 5/50 In the opening pre-title chase scene of Casino Royale 6/50 In the opening pre-title chase scene of Casino Royale 7/50 Seducing Solange (Caterina Murino) in Casino Royale 8/50 Battling Le Chiffre across the card table at Casino Royale 9/50 Making his move against the villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale 10/50 With Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Venice near the end of Casino Royale 11/50 On the hunt for the organisation responsible for Vesper's death in 2008's Quantum of Solace 12/50 Seeking solace from his own Vesper cocktail in one of Bond's most vulnerable scenes of the series 13/50 With Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) 14/50 arriving with Camille at an airfield in Bolivia 15/50 Bond with Camille (Olga Kurylenko) 16/50 Bond with Camille (Olga Kurylenko) 17/50 Fighting Dominic Greene in Quantum's final battle (Mathieu Amalric) 18/50 19/50 Bond in shadow as he stalks his prey in the opening of Skyfall in 2012 20/50 With the mysterious with Severine (Berenice Marlohe) 21/50 Ready to pull the trigger with Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) watching in the background MGM Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions 22/50 On the move in a motocycle chase scene 23/50 Fighting Patrice (Ola Rapace) on top of a moving train 24/50 Face to face with Skyfall's villain Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) 25/50 Skyfall saw a new and younger Q (Ben Whishaw) 26/50 Classic Bond stance with the DB5 27/50 Bond went to his family home, Skyfall, in his bid to save M (Judi Dench) from Silva 28/50 'Enjoying death' - Bond starts 2015's Spectre in a mask at the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico 29/50 Being fitted with a tracker by Q 30/50 Dressed in black, Bond is the Spectre at the funeral of Marco Sciarra 31/50 Monica Bellucci is Sciarra's widow Lucia 32/50 Seducing Lucia moments after saving ehr by dispatching a Spectre hit-squad 33/50 Bond meets an old friend, Mr White as he pieces together Spectre's plot 34/50 Cutting a dashing figure in the Alps 35/50 In one of Spectre's set-piece action scenes, Bond chases the villains down a mountain in a plane, crashing it into their vehicle. As you would 36/50 With Madeleine Swan (Lea Seydoux) 37/50 The End? Bond at the climatic end of Spectre before he drives off with Madeleine 38/50 Daniel Craig speaks onstage during The New Yorker Festival 2016 Getty Images 39/50 Daniel Craig takes a selfie with fans as he attends the German premiere of the new James Bond movie 'Spectre' Getty Images 40/50 Lea Seydoux, Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci attend the Royal Film Performance of 'Spectre' at Royal Albert Hall Getty Images 41/50 Naomie Harris (L) and British actor Daniel Craig (R) pose during an event to launch the 24th James Bond film 'Spectre' at Pinewood Studios at Iver Heath AFP/Getty Images 42/50 Daniel Craig and his wife Rachel Weisz attend "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" premiere in Madrid Getty Images 43/50 Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz take a romantic walk hand-in-hand to lunch in 2012 at a Japanese restaurant in NYC Splash News 44/50 Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig in 'Dream House (2011) 45/50 Daniel Craig takes a bow during opening night curtain call for the broadway production of "A Steady Rain" at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 29 September 2009 in New York Getty Images 46/50 Daniel Craig in Defiance (2009) 47/50 Daniel Craig with Sienna Miller in 'Layer Cake' (2004) 48/50 Daniel Craig in 'Layer Cake' (2004) 49/50 Daniel Craig in 'Layer Cake' with Colm Meaney (2004) 50/50 Daniel Craig during the photocall of his film 'Road to Perdition' at the 59th International Venice Film Festival in 2002 PA 1/50 An early publicity shot ahead of Casino Royale's release 2/50 Footage featured during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games starring Daniel Craig playing James Bond escorting The Queen through the corridors of Buckingham Palace 3/50 Daniel Craig emerges from the waves in Casino Royale in 2006 4/50 Daniel Craig kisses his actress wife Rachel Weisz while they attend The Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund's Royal Film Performance 2015 of the 24th James Bond Adventure, "Spectre" at Royal Albert Hall Getty Images 5/50 In the opening pre-title chase scene of Casino Royale 6/50 In the opening pre-title chase scene of Casino Royale 7/50 Seducing Solange (Caterina Murino) in Casino Royale 8/50 Battling Le Chiffre across the card table at Casino Royale 9/50 Making his move against the villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale 10/50 With Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Venice near the end of Casino Royale 11/50 On the hunt for the organisation responsible for Vesper's death in 2008's Quantum of Solace 12/50 Seeking solace from his own Vesper cocktail in one of Bond's most vulnerable scenes of the series 13/50 With Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) 14/50 arriving with Camille at an airfield in Bolivia 15/50 Bond with Camille (Olga Kurylenko) 16/50 Bond with Camille (Olga Kurylenko) 17/50 Fighting Dominic Greene in Quantum's final battle (Mathieu Amalric) 18/50 19/50 Bond in shadow as he stalks his prey in the opening of Skyfall in 2012 20/50 With the mysterious with Severine (Berenice Marlohe) 21/50 Ready to pull the trigger with Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) watching in the background MGM Pictures/Columbia Pictures/EON Productions 22/50 On the move in a motocycle chase scene 23/50 Fighting Patrice (Ola Rapace) on top of a moving train 24/50 Face to face with Skyfall's villain Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) 25/50 Skyfall saw a new and younger Q (Ben Whishaw) 26/50 Classic Bond stance with the DB5 27/50 Bond went to his family home, Skyfall, in his bid to save M (Judi Dench) from Silva 28/50 'Enjoying death' - Bond starts 2015's Spectre in a mask at the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico 29/50 Being fitted with a tracker by Q 30/50 Dressed in black, Bond is the Spectre at the funeral of Marco Sciarra 31/50 Monica Bellucci is Sciarra's widow Lucia 32/50 Seducing Lucia moments after saving ehr by dispatching a Spectre hit-squad 33/50 Bond meets an old friend, Mr White as he pieces together Spectre's plot 34/50 Cutting a dashing figure in the Alps 35/50 In one of Spectre's set-piece action scenes, Bond chases the villains down a mountain in a plane, crashing it into their vehicle. As you would 36/50 With Madeleine Swan (Lea Seydoux) 37/50 The End? Bond at the climatic end of Spectre before he drives off with Madeleine 38/50 Daniel Craig speaks onstage during The New Yorker Festival 2016 Getty Images 39/50 Daniel Craig takes a selfie with fans as he attends the German premiere of the new James Bond movie 'Spectre' Getty Images 40/50 Lea Seydoux, Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci attend the Royal Film Performance of 'Spectre' at Royal Albert Hall Getty Images 41/50 Naomie Harris (L) and British actor Daniel Craig (R) pose during an event to launch the 24th James Bond film 'Spectre' at Pinewood Studios at Iver Heath AFP/Getty Images 42/50 Daniel Craig and his wife Rachel Weisz attend "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" premiere in Madrid Getty Images 43/50 Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz take a romantic walk hand-in-hand to lunch in 2012 at a Japanese restaurant in NYC Splash News 44/50 Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig in 'Dream House (2011) 45/50 Daniel Craig takes a bow during opening night curtain call for the broadway production of "A Steady Rain" at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 29 September 2009 in New York Getty Images 46/50 Daniel Craig in Defiance (2009) 47/50 Daniel Craig with Sienna Miller in 'Layer Cake' (2004) 48/50 Daniel Craig in 'Layer Cake' (2004) 49/50 Daniel Craig in 'Layer Cake' with Colm Meaney (2004) 50/50 Daniel Craig during the photocall of his film 'Road to Perdition' at the 59th International Venice Film Festival in 2002 PA

Speaking to Radio Times in December he said: “It’s really humbling and flattering, but to have my name [talked up for Bond] next to the likes of Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender is just mad.

“If you’re thinking of putting a bet on me, keep your money in your pocket.”

The latest odds come weeks after Craig confirmed his return to the role after months of speculation. The actor has enjoyed four outings as the British spy in Skyfall, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Spectre.

Announcing the news on US chat show The Late Show, he told host Stephen Colbert: “I just want to go out on a high note, and I can't wait.”

The as-of-yet untitled 25th film is set for release in November 2019.