Robert Pattinson has emerged as the favourite in the race to succeed Daniel Craig as James Bond, according to a credible film-industry source.

Writing in Puck, Matthew Belloni suggests that the favourable contract terms he says have been offered to Pattinson suggest that the actor, currently in cinemas with reality-crime thriller Primetime, is studio Amazon MGM's preferred choice for the role.

According to Belloni, while other actors on the shortlist were required to commit to four Bond films, Pattinson's contract called for three – and offered a much larger (unspecified) fee. According to Belloni, "it suggests the studio is willing or even eager to sacrifice a bit to get a 'name' star to front its most important franchise."

The casting process for the new Bond film, the 26th in the official series, has become very public in recent weeks, with industry reports suggesting that three actors – Callum Turner, Jack Lowden and Josh O'Connor – were on the producers' shortlist, and two weeks later that two others, Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult, were also being tested.

Each contender will have been offered terms before the test process began – what Belloni calls "test deals" – and Belloni surmises that producers must not have been fully happy with the original three-strong shortlist, to allow more established names to join the process.

Bond 26 will be the first film made by the series' new owner, Amazon MGM, which has "creative control" of the franchise after striking a deal with its previous producers, Eon, in 2025. Producers David Heyman and Amy Pascal are overseeing the project, while Dune's Denis Villeneuve will direct and Peaky Blinders' Steven Knight is writing the script.

After participating in a number of successful franchises, including Twilight, Harry Potter, The Batman and Dune, as well as appearing in acclaimed dramas such as Bel Ami, Cosmopolis, The Lost City of Z and The Lighthouse, Pattinson is the most high-profile of the contenders – something that would have likely gone against him when Eon was still in control, whose credo was that Bond was a bigger star than any actor. Belloni suggests that in the current media landscape, that may no longer hold: "No franchise is bulletproof any more – everything is vulnerable and most can be helped by a value-add element, like an established star."