It’s an interesting time to be a James Bond fan. Those of us who keep tabs on the franchise are used to the rumor mill spinning rapidly before a new installment is officially set. Sure, you go through periods where you don’t have to worry about casting actors for Bond himself. Sometimes we can even forego director rumors, as we did on Spectre when Sam Mendes returned. Mendes is not coming back for Bond 25, however. Actor Daniel Craig is likely to be back as Bond, but the next film is in need of a director. Who’s up for it this time? If rumors are on point, “Sherlock” regular Paul McGuigan and Dark Knight Trilogy helmer Christopher Nolan are both in the mix.
Indiewire is the source of the Paul McGuigan scuttlebutt. The director recently completed a non-007 production (Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool) for EON, the company that calls the shots on Bond. According to the outlet, the producers are so happy with the film that they’ve begun talking to McGuigan about him tacking a crack at Bond. Outside of his work on “Sherlock“, the filmmaker is probably best known for his work on features like Gangster No. 1 and Lucky Number Slevin, as well as further television work on series such as “Luke Cage” and “Designated Survivor“.
McGuigan is a journeyman filmmaker and would bring his since of economy and flair to Bond 25, should he get the gig. EON has eschewed journeymen for most of Craig’s run, but such directors are the franchise’s bread and butter overall, so that’s a plus in his favor. So too is the fact that he already has a good working relationship with EON. The only potential roadblock might be Craig himself, who has had a bit more creative sway on the last two pictures and is likely to have the same on this one. If he can win Craig over, there’s a good chance that he gets the gig.
A longer shot is Christopher Nolan. His entry into the ring comes from a listing on the oft-unreliable IMDB. A listing on IMDB Pro now credits Syncopy as one of the production companies involved with Bond 25. Syncopy is Nolan’s company and outside of Man of Steel, they’ve only produced films that Nolan himself has helmed. The man is a self-professed 007 fan, often bringing up the franchise’s influence in relation to his three Batman films and Inception.
A number of things give me pause in regards to his potential involvement. EON has been more open to work with bigger directors as of late, but Nolan is about as big as they come these days. With him comes a higher fee and EON is notoriously cheap when it comes to paying talent. Furthermore, I honestly find it had to believe that they would bring Syncopy in to help produce the project. Chances are, should Nolan get it, he’d be a gun for hire, as I cannot see EON sharing profits with and/or paying producer fees to Syncopy.
There’s also the matter of creative control. EON gave over too much control on Quantum of Solace to director Marc Forster and they paid the price for it. Part of that happened out of necessity, due to the writers’ strike at the time, but the producers have since regretted handing over as much power as they did, particularly in the editing bay. Sam Mendes had a good deal of input on both Skyfall and Spectre, but at the end of the day, EON had final say. Would Nolan be willing to play ball like that? He did on the Batman films, but he’s been doing his own thing for his past two features since leaving the Caped Crusader behind. Even as a Bond nut, would he be willing to not have final say on major aspects of the picture? I have my doubts.
Like I said above, it’s an interesting time to be a Bond fan. In addition to Craig not officially locked in to star in Bond 25 just yet and the search for a director being underway, the franchise is also in need of a new distribution contract. EON’s previous deal with Sony has expired and according to the New York Times, the new deal they are shopping around is even tighter than ones before. Whoever lands it will only get one film out of the deal. That sounds a bit chintzy to me, but apparently Hollywood is lapping it up. A bidding war is currently going on for Bond 25 and the bidders are Sony, Warner Bros., Universal, Fox, and Annapurna. Given the financial woes that WB is facing and the riskiness of going with an outsider like Annapurna, I’m betting one of the other three will come out on top.
Because of the lack of a studio home, leaks are at a minimum at this time. Usually by now we are neck-deep in casting rumors for female leads and villains, as well as hordes of location possibilities. Hell, we’re usually being bombarded with potential musicians for the title song as well. All of those conversations are sure to be going on behind closed doors at EON right now, but without a leaky studio ship by their side, almost none of it is finding its way online. Instead we are left with a pair of director names, rumors of helicopters being bought up, and the distinct possibility that the film fires up production before even finding a distributor.
Will one of these gents direct the final film? Will Daniel Craig close out his tenure with Bond 25 or walk away during pre-production, making room for a newbie? Will Sony re-land the contract or might 007 shack up with Fox or Universal instead? Will it pick up from the end of Spectre or be its own thing? I honestly have no idea at this point. That’s what makes it so fun!
