The next 007 movie is picking up quite a pedigree, with director Denis Villeneuve being joined by screenwriter Steven Knight.
It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for James Bond fans in recent times.
First, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson ceded control of the Bond film franchise to Amazon MGM Studios in exchange for a Dr. Evil-ish one billion dollars, a move that was largely greeted with abject horror by the fandom. A hypothetical Young James Bond streaming series was the least of the indignities imagined by some of your more histrionic Bond heads, but it was fun for a minute. I speculated a Jack Ryan crossover, myself.
Then it was announced that Denis Villeneuve, he of Blade Runner 2049 and Dune fame, was tapped to direct the first film under the aegis not-a-Bond-villain Jeff Bezos. This received a response that averaged out to “guarded optimism”. On the one hand, Villeneuve is a hugely talented and successful filmmaker with strong genre sensibilities. On the other, people get a bit weird about James Bond, plus there’s a ride-or-die Christopher Nolan cohort that just blows the math.
And now Deadline brings us the news that a scribe has been appointed to His Majesty’s Secret Service. Steven Knight, the man who brought back the flat cap with Peaky Blinders, will write the next James Bond film (title TBA, but some kind of flavourful pun is likely). The scoop for confirmed by the official James Bond X account shortly thereafter.
The British Knight (not actually a knight) is a good choice, I think. He’s penned some great films, including David Cronenberg‘s Eastern Promises and Stephen Frears’ Dirty Pretty Things. On the TV side, not only does everyone love Peaky Blinders, but his current series, SAS: Rogue Heroes, shows he’s not averse to a bit of ol’ British imperialism – an essential Bond element, for better or worse. Conversely, Knight wrote and directed the completely deranged sci-fi erotic thriller Serenity with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, a film so bad you wouldn’t want it entered into evidence at a competency hearing. Much to consider.
It’ll be a while before we can an inkling of what Knight hath wrought, though. Villeneuve’s gotta knock Dune Part 3 on the head before he starts working on what will be the 26th James Bond film. They haven’t even announced a star yet, and prognosticating on that is the best part of this whole process.
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