Bond Finds Director
But what kind of 007 movie will the new director make?
The next James Bond movie will be directed by Denis Villeneuve (Dir: Dune).
Beyond the headline, which no doubt has blown up any Bond aficionado’s feeds, I’ve dedicated some time to examining what kind of film Villeneuve would make. Because at the end of the day, that’s all filmmakers and moviegoers really care about… and by extension, the studio heads who will undoubtedly be spending an ungodly sum on budget/marketing.
But first, some background on why I believe Villeneuve will have more creative freedom with the character than any director in the franchise’s 60+ year history…
Back in February, Amazon bought out longtime Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for close to $1 billion (you can read why in my cover story from February, but suffice it to say that Amazon had come to an impasse with Broccoli and wanted to move on their crown jewel IP).
The new producers of Bond, Amy Pascal (Challengers, Venom 3, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and David Heyman (Barbie, Wonka, Gravity), had been hearing pitches from many directors (Edward Berger, Jonathan Nolan, Edgar Wright) for months, and Villeneuve won the job.
It had been a dream of his for a long time, stating:
“Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. 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 believe there is no director working today more suited for the job.
He’s able to personalize big-budget films (see: Dune 2, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) in a way that is profound, having taken to heart a piece of advice Martin Scorsese gave him as he transitioned from indie film to Hollywood:
“Stay intact. Protect the flame. Creativity is linked with vulnerability.”
So maybe this is my dream, but perhaps we’ll get a Bond film that is vulnerable. More vulnerable than we’ve ever seen him before.
That’s been the trend I’ve noticed anyway since the post-9/11 Daniel Craig iterations of Bond (which owe much to Bourne Identity), kicking off with Casino Royale (2006).
That film took a major gamble: Bond becomes self-aware of his flaws. A far cry from the '90s/early 2000s Pierce Brosnan Bond films, which were high on action and low on self-reflection, not that there was anything wrong with that.
What the Craig films birthed was a whole new level of 007, whose adversaries were not just maniacal villains but also his stained self.
In Skyfall (2012), my pick for best in the series since Sean Connery’s Goldfinger (1964), Craig clashes between his past and a new order of spies dominated by tech overlords. In that movie, Bond’s road to salvation was blowing up the physical manifestation of his past, his childhood home.
I’m curious to see if Villeneuve’s film will build on this, expanding the new Bond beyond its rigid schema without compromising it. He will no longer have to conform to the Broccolis’ strict formula, e.g., “There must be three girls and Bond must have all of them,” and “Bond never shoots first.”
What if Villeneuve gave us a non-linear origin story? Bond’s days before joining MI6? Bond’s childhood? 007 always yawns these moments away, but I know watching that it’s always a cover for pain, something that Villeneuve could prospect.
It’s right in his wheelhouse.
Villeneuve’s Incendies (2010), I believe his best film, is a masterful mystery where the protagonist’s journey to find her true identity comes to a Shakespearean conclusion.
The challenge with diving too deep into Bond’s backstory is that you risk taking away the narrative drive of Bond saving the world. If we care more about him finding himself than saving humanity, something is off kilter (e.g., No Time to Die).
But Villeneuve has always had a penchant for puzzles. His sophomore feature, Maelström, directed 25 years ago, was narrated by a fish (trailer). And Enemy (2013) showed that Villeneuve reveled in the unanswerable. The film is centered around Jake Gyllenhaal meeting a man who looks exactly like himself in a way that ensnares viewers to parse whether Gyllenhaal is a twin, on the verge of a psychological break, or experiencing a rift in reality.
Villeneuve said:
“I love when ideas are so mysterious that you lose your equilibrium.”
Perhaps Villeneuve won’t go that route and keep a purer vision.
This would point to a Villeneuve character that is only lightly shaded, like Benicio Del Toro in Sicario. In that film, Del Toro is a living ghost, driven by a bile that he hides with every fiber of his being. Quite similar to Bond. Although masterfully, Sicario finds its heart in the protagonist, Emily Blunt.
Villenveue understands the dichotomy of these challenges, stating:
“It’s a character that I’ve been with — like everybody — since my childhood. I have massive affection for Bond. It would be a big challenge for people to try and reboot it after what Daniel did.”
As a character, what made Bond so interesting was his unwillingness to adapt with the times.
Bond will most certainly evolve now. I just hope he can survive.
He usually does…
For More
Incendies trailer.
Sicario trailer.
Skyfall trailer.
Written and Edited by Gabriel Miller.
Unfortunately, I hated the Daniel Craig iteration of Bond. Sean Connery is my touchstone Bond. A wee bit of vulnerability (i.e. humanity) is great, too much reduces Bond's strengths. As do toooo many gadgets!