With Daniel Craig looking set to return for Bond 25, fans can breathe a sigh of relief and not yet have to worry about Britain’s most famous spy getting a huge makeover. Yet after Sam Mendes directed the previous two instalments of the franchise, Bond 25 is still looking for a director.
One name that often gets linked with Bond, mostly because he’s British and also really good at what he does, is Christopher Nolan. While it remains unlikely that Nolan, one of the very few directors with enough success and pedigree to get his own passion projects funded by major studios, would direct a Bond film, he has expressed an interest.
In the recent digital edition of Playboy, amid talk about his upcoming film Dunkirk, Nolan talked about how any chance of him directing a Bond film would have to come with the series attempting to go in a new direction:
“A Bond movie, definitely. I’ve spoken to the producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson over the years. I deeply love the character, and I’m always excited to see what they do with it. Maybe one day that would work out. You’d have to be needed, if you know what I mean. It has to need reinvention; it has to need you. And they’re getting along very well”.
If the series was currently where it was a decade ago and in the need of a gritty reboot, Nolan would probably be in the directors chair. As it is though, the series under Craig has delivered two of the best Bond films of all time, with some fans claiming Craig to be the best Bond ever, a far cry from his original announcement being met with protests of “Bond not blonde”.
While it might feel like a long shot for Nolan to direct a Bond film right now, Craig’s tenure is likely coming to an end and with producers considering a 007 cinematic universe, it’s likely that the amount of Bond-related films will rise. Perhaps a post-Craig Bond, with the series ready to splinter off in other directions, is exactly the kind of “reinvention” Nolan is talking about?
Either way, this is all just rumours and hypotheticals right now. With Craig reportedly back for Bond 25, attention will likely turn to the ongoing discussion of franchise rights after the film, which is currently looking at an October 2018 release date.
Nolan’s Dunkirk arrives in cinemas Friday, July 21.
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