With a new James Bond movie officially slated for 2019, and Daniel Craig just a formal announcement away from returning, all that’s left to find is a director. And a pretty interesting list of frontrunners for the gig has emerged.
Deadline reports that Yann Demange, Denis Villenueve and David MacKenzie are in the running for the job. It’s an interesting mix of new talent and veteran hands. Demange is the new kid on the block in a sense, breaking out with “ ’71” and recently wrapping his first Hollywood movie, the drug drama “White Boy Rick” starring Matthew McConaughey. MacKenzie has been moving steadily up the ladder, helming a string of small indies early in his career, gaining wider notice with “Starred Up,” and then experiencing awards season recognition for “Hell Or High Water.” However, both filmmakers have never worked with the kind of budget a Bond movie would bring.
READ MORE: Christopher Nolan Says He’d Still Like To Direct A James Bond Movie
That brings us to Villeneuve, who is certainly an intriguing option. The director is gearing up to release “Blade Runner 2049” this fall, easily his biggest movie to date, and he’s a frequent collaborator with cinematographer Roger Deakins, who made “Skyfall” look gorgeous. So, it could be a pretty fascinating pairing if they take it on, but our heart isn’t necessarily in seeing Villeneuve jump from one franchise to another.
As for recently mentioned names like Christopher Nolan or Edgar Wright, they don’t seem to be in the mix, which makes sense, given that they’ve both said they’d want to put their own mark on the material. The producers of Bond aren’t looking for reinvention at this point, which is clearly indicated by hiring screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who have penned the last six installments, to script the next movie.
Thoughts? Let us know in the comments section.
Personally I love your idea of Steven Soderbergh. With the good reviews for Logan Lucky and especially the performance from Craig, and the fact that, well, he’s an incredibly good director, they’d be mad not to consider him.
Soderbergh would be a good choice, but a I think that if they are not a fan of Haywire that door is closed.
Katherine Bigelow
Denis Villenueve should make Dune next but he will be good at directing Bond.
Guy Hamilton.
Needs to be someone who can direct action not as theatre as Sam Mendes would go back to Casino Royale director Martin Campbell or give comebacks to Kevin Reynolds (directed Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld and underrated One Right Seven and The Count of Monte Cristo) or Martin Brest not made a film since Gigli the massive 2003 flop but Hollywood forgave Ben Affleck after a few years why can’t they the director? (directed two of the best 80’s action films Beverly Hills Cop and Midnight Run and the fantastic Scent of a Woman an d the underrated Meet Joe Back).
I think that Tomas Alfredson would be excellent in a Bond film, and is a realistic choice.