Ah, James Bond news, we've been expecting you... come in. With the status quo of everyone's favourite spy series (sorry Slow Horses) having been sha
Ah, James Bond news, we’ve been expecting you… come in. With the status quo of everyone’s favourite spy series (sorry Slow Horses) having been shaken and stirred in recent months with the announcements that Amazon has taken over imaginative control of the franchise from the Broccolis and that David Heyman and Amy Pascal will produce Bond’s next outing, the internet — and the movie industry at enormous — is abuzz with discussions about who will lead 007’s big-screen return. Now, courtesy of Puck‘s newsletter, we’re getting word of not one, not two, but five directors who are all reportedly pitching Bond 26.
According to Puck‘s sources (who, we can only speculate, must have sent their finest spies to peep some sort of for-your-eyes-only dossier left inexplicably unattended by David Heyman to acquire this information), All Quiet On The Western Front filmmaker Edward Berger — who was at one point linked with a Bourne reboot — has gotten out of the blocks ahead of the pack and already pitched his take on Bond. Following close behind however is Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, who’s also expected to be delivering a pitch soon, and — perhaps most eye-catchingly — a trio of British filmmakers including Cornetto trilogy architect Edgar Wright, Paddington director Paul King, and Nolan… Jonathan Nolan, that is. It’s a veritable smorgasbord of canny filmmakers who’d make sense in the Bond hotseat either by genre affiliation or Amazon association, and a fair indicator of how wide Heyman and Pascal are casting their net to find the filmmaker to follow Cary Joji Fukunaga’s No Time To Die. It’s also a list of names with a noticeable absentee. No, not the other Nolan brother, but rather Alfonso Cuarón, who has in the past spoken of a desire to make a Bond movie but — as is Puck‘s understanding — has now taken himself out of the running to deliver 007’s next assignment.
In terms of who’ll be playing Bond in the next double-oh feature, that is still very much up in the air, with Puck reporting that Pascal and Heyman aren’t even considering Bond casting until a director is in place and a script has been written. All of which is to say that even having taken these reports with a substantial ol’ pinch of salt, the wheels on Amazon’s shiny up-to-date cinematic Aston Martin DB5 are most assuredly turning — even if we don’t know their final destination just yet. Keep your eyes peeled over the weeks and months ahead for more Bond news to break, and we’ll bring you all the latest updates just as soon as we get ’em. Also, to Aaron Pierre, Aaron Taylor Johnson, and all the other actors not named Aaron who must continue to be asked cinema’s least answerable question at every red carpet for at least a few more months yet, our thoughts are with you fellas.
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