The Dark Knight Trilogy director Christopher Nolan has long been a fan-favourite choice to helm a James Bond movie, and it looks like the filmmaker is now in serious contention to reboot the franchise following the end of Daniel Craig's memorable run as 007.
According to World of Reel (via ActioNewz.com), franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has Nolan in her sights. Discussions started prior to the WGA strike and the gruelling Oppenheimer press tour, with both of those obviously slowing things down a little.
While Broccoli and her producing partner Michael G. Wilson tend to be very hands-on with how Bond is portrayed on screen, Nolan is pushing for full creative control in a deal which, unsurprisingly, would also see him pen the movie's screenplay.
Actually, make that two screenplays. It's said the current plan is for Nolan to direct two movies, suggesting he has big plans for Bond in what could be a two-parter before the franchise moves on to a new filmmaker (and possibly even a different 007 - that wouldn't be unprecedented based on the brief tenure of other Bonds).
If things with Nolan don't pan out, it seems Danny Boyle, Denis Villeneuve, and Paul Greengrass are all backup possibilities. As for Matthew Vaughn, the site doesn't believe those rumours are correct. Kraven the Hunter star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, meanwhile, remains the rumoured frontrunner to play the new Bond.
Earlier this year, Nolan said this about potentially helming a James Bond adventure down the line.
"I love those movies. The influence of those movies in my filmography is embarrassingly apparent. It would be an amazing privilege to do one. At the same time, when you take on a character like that you’re working with particular set of constraints. So it’s a kind of responsibility I also felt very much when taking on Batman.
"You wouldn’t want to take on a film without being fully committed with what you bring."
Time will tell, but this certainly sounds promising. While we're taking this story with a pinch of salt, it's easy to imagine Nolan doing something incredibly exciting with the character and putting a new spin on the franchise that separates it from what we saw in the gritty and mostly very grounded Craig-led efforts.
James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.
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