For a moment, it seemed like James Bond had become the enemy of the people. In February, Amazon MGM Studios announced it had acquired the character r
For a moment, it seemed like James Bond had become the enemy of the people. In February, Amazon MGM Studios announced it had acquired the character rights from the Broccoli family of producers, who had overseen the superspy for most the hero’s cinematic lifespan. A relentless backlash followed. Fans of 007 feared that the megacorporation, best known for free next-day shipping, would cheapen the iconic spy character through endless knockoffs and spin-offs.
When Amazon founder Jeff Bezos posted the news to social media and asked “Who’d you pick as the next Bond?” the prevailing sentiment was “Henry Cavill.” The second most common opinion was: Don’t do this at all. When The Hollywood Reporter covered the deal, reportedly sealed for around $1 billion, the trade magazine depicted Bezos in its lead image as the bald, scar-faced Bond villain Blofeld.
But 007’s fortunes always turn in an instant. Just when he is most in peril—with a heat laser inching closer to bisecting him, spinning blades nipping at his heels as he dangles above, or poison surging through his body from a tainted martini—Ian Fleming’s debonair spy always evades danger and gains the upper hand. That happened again on Wednesday night, when Denis Villeneuve signed on as the franchise’s next director.
There is perhaps no other filmmaker working today who combines his degree of artistic status with pop-culture bona fides—apart perhaps from Christopher Nolan, who also once famously yearned to make a 007 film. Villeneuve’s mainstream breakthrough was the harrowing and emotional 2010 drama Incendies, and he proved himself to be a master of intensity with the 2013 kidnapping drama Prisoners. The cartel-busting thriller Sicario, from 2015, rooted its frenetic gunplay and action in depth and heart. He proved he could expand upon a classic film’s legacy with the 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049, and his two films in the Dune saga were feats of scale and complexity that became box office and awards season juggernauts.
Beyond his energetic resume, Villeneuve possesses another vital ingredient—an abiding love for 007 that goes beyond the payday. “Some of my earliest moviegoing memories are connected to 007,” Villeneuve said in a statement. “I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr. No with Sean Connery. I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honor the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come.”
It’s a mission that may be deferred for a beat. Villeneuve will be joined on 007 by his wife and producing partner Tanya Lapointe—but first, the couple must complete Messiah, part three of the Dune trilogy for Warner Bros. The movie, scheduled to debut on December 18, 2026, is set to begin filming in Hungary this summer.
Villeneuve’s 007 film will be produced by Amy Pascal, a former Sony studio chief who’s also produced recent Spider-Man films, and David Heyman, best known for the Harry Potter movies and Barbie. The road ahead is not an effortless one for Bond. Characters like this only endure if they change with the times, but too much alteration can dispel the appeal that made them beloved in the first place.
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