The name’s Villeneuve. Denis Villeneuve. Amazon MGM Studios has officially announced that Dune and Sicario director Denis Villeneuve will helm the next installment of the James Bond franchise. The acclaimed filmmaker will also serve as executive producer on the project, alongside Tanya Lapointe. Amy Pascal and David Heyman — two producers with Oscar-winning pedigrees — are also on board. For Villeneuve, this is more than just another gig.
“Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007,” he 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. This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honor. Amy, David, and I are absolutely thrilled to bring him back to the screen. Thank you to Amazon MGM Studios for their trust.”
Who Will Be The Next James Bond?
While Villeneuve’s hiring is a huge move in its own right, now the question is — who will be his 007? At the 28 Years Later premiere, Aaron Taylor-Johnson was asked what he had coming up next. “I can’t talk about it,” he said, with just enough of a grin to send the Bond speculation into a frenzy.
Taylor-Johnson, 35, has been the odds-on favorite to succeed Daniel Craig as 007 ever since No Time to Die bowed out the last Bond era with an explosive — and final — send-off. Longtime producer Barbara Broccoli reportedly met with him, and although Taylor-Johnson has never confirmed the rumours, he’s never outright denied them either.
And to add some spy fuel to the fire, Taylor-Johnson was just named a global ambassador for Omega, the iconic Swiss watch brand synonymous with Bond since 1995’s GoldenEye. He even made an official visit to their headquarters in Biel, Switzerland — a press tour move that felt less like coincidence and more like quiet confirmation.
It’s been nearly two decades since Craig first debuted in Casino Royale, and four years since Bond’s cinematic funeral in No Time to Die. Whoever takes up the mantle next — be it Taylor-Johnson or a surprise name — will do so in a franchise that’s recalibrating itself for a new world, under new leadership, and with a new creative vision. And with Villeneuve at the helm? Consider us shaken, stirred, and very, very intrigued.
via Collider