The official announcement that James Bond's 25th outing would be released in November 2019 sent the internet into overdrive earlier this week as speculation was abound as to who would star in the movie and who would be calling the shots behind the camera.
According to The New York Times, Daniel Craig is all but confirmed to continue in the role for what would be his sixth outing as Bond. Assuming they're sources are correct, that just leaves the small matter of attaching a director to the project.
Deadline are reporting that the Bond producers are working hard on that front, and have gone as far as drawing up a three man shortlist for the job. Christopher Nolan is a name that has been rumoured for some time, particularly now with his latest effort Dunkirk wowing audiences in cinemas. However according to Deadline, he isn't in the running for the gig this time out. This isn't surprising considering Craig is expected to return to the role. One would imagine that should Nolan take on Bond he's want to reboot the character rather than continue on with Craig's incarnation.
The three directors named by Deadline are Yann Demange, Denis Villenueve and David McKenzie.
Demange made his directorial debut in 2014 with the excellent '71. The film starred Jack O'Connell as a British soldier abandoned in the streets of Belfast during the Troubles and featured our own Killian Scott and Barry Keoghan. His next project, White Boy Rick, will star Matthew McConnaughey and is set for release next year.
There's few directors on as big of a hot streak as Denis Villenueve is at the moment. Since 2013, he's released Prisoners, Sicario, and Arrival and has got Blade Runner: 2049 coming out in October.
McKenzie meanwhile, is also on a roll following the excellent Starred Up and last year's Oscar nominated Hell or High Water. He's currently working on new TV series Damnation which Killian Scott has a role in.
All three of the above would be interesting choices. Considering Villeneuve is already attached to the Dune reboot, we suspect that a scheduling conflict will mean that he's out of the running. Unless he's prepared to leave that for the Bond gig.
Via Deadline
