Denis Villenueve attached to Bond #26
Loeffelholz
The United States, With LovePosts: 8,984Quartermasters
For what it's worth. He's a proven artist, and a professed fan of the character. They could have done much worse, I think.
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"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
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Just saw the news.
His resume includes:
Sicario (2015)
The Arrival (2016)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Dune (2021), Dune Part II (2023), Dune Messiah (2026)
A talented director with a lot of vision and stylistic flair. With the benefit of casting a new actor for the role.
Now things are getting interesting.
Cross posting from the director thread which is likely to be abandoned now…
Tapping Villeneuve says Amazon wants a prestige Bond. High-concept, big budget, visually dazzling. That was the big break the Craig era made with everything that came before. I remember Roger Ebert saying the CR was one of the best movies of the year, and then a few years later SF won a couple of Oscars. It’s clear at this stage the camp days of 007 are over.
Just so - no longer speculation, and IMO deserving of its own thread, via the digital pages of Variety.
I doubt this gent is interested in 'deadpan spoofing,' as Maibaum used to call it. Then again, he says he's a fan since Connery. So...back to speculation, I guess 😎
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Interesting choice, he is def. a master of sophisticated mainstream cinema, but I iust checked that the release date for Dune 3 is only set for December 2026, so it looks like Villeneuve won’t be able to focus on Bond before then. Nothing will probably happen with Bond before 2027.
Former name: Noi
That figures, haha. I'm sure the next Dune is currently in some phase of production at the moment. Only Amazon knows when Bond #26 will release.
One never knows how many more Bond films he has, you know.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Not a bad choice. Villeneuve's films are modern in the sense that they're not fun, but his strength is he treats the subject seriously. You don't see camp or dorky comedy in his movies, for instance. Visually, he's as good as anyone working today, with a style more or less between Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scoot. I don't know that he has the capacity to make a fun and colorful Bond movie like those in the classic era, but he certainly would approach the subject soberly.
What an amazing opportunity for a director. Supposedly this has been going on for a while behind the scenes, so presumably there's at least a skeletal structure of what they're after. If he's the fan he says he is, I'm sure it's something he's looking forward to. I know I would.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
As Maibaum would say (basically) only he could write spoofing and campy in Bond. It's just another way he just showed he thought he was better than everyone else on Bond.
I'm just worried that Purvis and Wade will be back to write the "fun" in Bond. Or in any capacity of Bond. I wonder if Villeneuve will be co-writing the screenplay.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn41yddj4m1o
BBC confirms Villeneuve as director.
When you look at Villeneuve's movies since 2010, none of them has been written by him except the Dune trilogy. I think it's possible the writers chosen by Heyman and Pascal have secretly been working soon after the hiring of the new producers, which would explain why the director is already announced.
There are many reasons I'm happy Villeneuve is the new Bond director:
- We're one big step closer to getting a new Bond film.
- He's a highly talented and skilled director. The Dune movies, Siccario, Blade Runner 48, Arrival are all great.
- He can so action and big scenes very very well.
- Anyone who worried the Bond movies will become straight to streaming can relax. Amazon didn't hore producers who has never made anything for streaming and now a prestige cinema director just to drop it on Amazon streaming.
- Villeneuve has already filmed in Norway for the first Dune, so the country is on his radar.
This is interesting. It's also worth noticing that at least since he became a major international director he hasn't had a go-to writer.
I understand Norway is important to you, but doesn't the last movie already feature the country? I think many fans want to discover new places and exotic locations never used before. Deserts of Australia, like in the novel Zero Minus Ten, for instance.
Good to have a Director finally confirmed. Onwards and upwards! Although due to commitments it does look like we won't see the film until 2027.
He probably wouldn't have been my first choice as I think we may get another heavier more arty Mendes type film but by the same account I imagine it will be very stylish and excellently shot. I certainly take heart that he says he's a big Bond fan and has that father/son connection experience history, many of us have with it.
I see your point, but how many times did we see Italy in the CraigBond movies? It's about showing a new part of a country or showing a location in a new way. If Bond26 has the Lofoten islands in northern Norway as one of the locations I don't think people will think "we've already seen this". In NTTD we saw a wintry lake in a forrest and the Atlantic Road, Norway has a lot more to offer that's never been shot for a big international film.
But I agree Bond should go where he's never been before. Mainland China, the Arctic, Georgia (the country), sub-Sahara Africa etc. .
Like the choice of Pascal and Heyman as producers we seem to have another step in the right direction.
I think Villeneuve's specific referencing of the Connery era could be a hint towards whatever 'pitch' he gave them.
People seem to think that EON's selling of its creative rights ended Barbara and MGW's involvement but I remember them talking about a Bond with more espionage and that would suit a Connery style 'reboot'.
Now ex-head of Amazon Studios, Jennifer Saulke seemed to be one of the obstacles for Babs and Michael during this hiatus and now she is gone.
Pascal is said to have had a very good relationship with Barbara from CR to Spectre and so I would not be surprised if they are conversing about what would be best.
As SeanIsTheOnlyOne says, Villeneuve has not written most of his films and he is only a co-writer to the Dune films.
Of the writers he has worked with I would say that Taylor Sheridan (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0792263/?ref_=tt_ov_2_1) has the best track record. I'd also choose Eric Roth but he is now 80 years old so maybe he is retired.
Sheridan wrote 'Sicario', 'Hell or high water', which I would recommend, and 'Those who wish me dead' is good and he has been involved in good TV from Lioness (James Bond like) to Landman.
As for Purvis & Wade, I would imagine Pascal with her past involvement will have a lot of say about that. I think that even if they don't get a credit, P&W will likely be asked for their advice and maybe for their notes on the treatment and maybe even the script.
Oof... This was exactly what I was worried about. Villeneuve is an undeniably talented, accomplished director, but his clinical sensibility is completely antithetical to Bond, and this is coming from someone who mostly enjoys his films.
I also think we're in desperate need of a tonal shift after 20 years of languishing in dourness and misery, but it's a reasonable assumption we're just gonna get more in the Craig mold now.
Good god, how I wish Edgar Wright had gotten the job.
Sheridan would be a very good writer if they want a an action-thriller Bond. While Villeneuve world-class director, I share kristopherm3's worries that Villeneuve isn't a lighthearted director who does jokes and humor. But Sam Mendes wasn't known as an action director before Skyfall, even though he did Road to Perdition, Maybe not a good comparison since action scenes are often done by second unit, but a director can show new interests and talents.
@Someone when you say people seem to think that EON's selling of its creative rights ended Barbara and MGW's involvement but I remember them talking about a Bond with more espionage and that would suit a Connery style 'reboot', do you have a source? I ask you that because I've never heard BB and MGW saying such a thing. The 'golden age' of the 60s (including OHMSS of course) remains an absolute ecstasy for me, and I'd be so excited to know the next movies will deal with genuine espionage stakes.
I'm trying to find it. Babs said it, I read it in one of the post-NTTD interviews and now I can't find it.
BTW I did find that David Heyman founded The London Film Academy with Babs. So, he had a connection with EON long before Amazon.
https://deadline.com/2022/06/james-bond-daniel-craig-next-007-reinventing-barbara-broccoli-1235053969/
I don’t see Sheridan being involved as he’s become an auteur himself. He’s created a brand in the US television market thanks to the popularity of “Yellowstone” and its offshoots. I think he’s focused on reinventing Westerns for the 21st Century and no longer a screenwriter for hire (unless he nourishes a passion for Bond of which I am unaware).
This strikes me as Barbara still pulling the strings vis-a-vis her pal, Amy Pascal. Recall that Denis was rumored for Bond 25’s director, but couldn’t do it due to his commitment on Dune. So he’s been on EON’s radar for some time—probably close to a decade. And, as others have noted, he fits the mould of the sort of director EON hired from QoS thru NTTD. He’s undeniably a talented pick, but for those of us hoping for a tone shift, I doubt we get it. I’m disappointed by that, but I’ll keep an open mind.
As an aside, props to Barbara. She got the money, still seems to have considerable sway in terms of franchise direction, doesn’t have to be hands on, and can just blame Amazon if it all goes wrong. She may be a genius.
I'm all in for DV to direct this. He's one of the best technical directors out there right now and, if I'm being honest, has more warmth to his style than Nolan.
Also, I loved how he directed the action in SICARIO. If that film is the template for how Bond is going to 'act', then I'm excited.
If anything, it means the gears are moving. Here's hoping the next film is sooner rather than, etc......
Sicario is a favorite of mine. I don't see it as an "art film" but a very tough/brutal action/crime thriller with noir elements that's incredibly well written and well directed. There are characters in Sicario that would easily fit a Bond film. The title character played by Bond vet Benicio del Toro is a mysterious ex-prosecutor/shadowy assassin with ties to the CIA; Josh Brolin is very good as a quirky/oddball CIA operative (Brolin would make a good Felix Leiter) and Emely Blunt provides the film with a moral center as an FBI Agent thrust into the all the craziness of the CIA, shadowy assassins, and the drug cartel. Roger Deakin's cinematography is exceptional and the action scenes are riveting. With Villanueve as director I think we will still get a hard edged Bond but without the emo shoegazing of the Craig era. Also, hard edged Bond does not eliminate the inclusion of breathtaking stunts/action and some clever/dark humor. I just hope that whoever is writing the script can maintain (for lack of a better way of putting it) the "Britishness" of Bond and the Bond films.
It's true, and he also added gags; some of them quite pleasingly cheesy too. Villeneuve is a fan of the films so fingers crossed he'll want to add a bit of that.
I only had one wish: Make Bond Fun again.
Instead, this fandom is -like all others, Star Wars, Batman, you name it- hijacked by a loud group if young males who want everything dark and gritty. And this director is just that.
Saw Blade Runner 2049 and thought it was "ok".
I wish they hire on someone like Phoebe Mary Waller-Bridge to write on the script. Among her many talents is humor, and she does it very well.
Better her than Purvis and Wade. Fresh writing blood for Bond is needed.
Personally I'd like to see Prague in a bond film. And by that, I mean the beautiful medieval looking city. Not a random alleyway like we got in CR.
Also, TLD didn't exactly show off Vienna or Bratislava. In fact, the film lies, because there are no Alps on the border of Slovakia and Austria. I've been across the border, the Alps are nowhere near it lol.
1 - Moore, 2 - Dalton, 3 - Craig, 4 - Connery, 5 - Brosnan, 6 - Lazenby