The name's Villeneuve, Denis Villeneuve

[Techwright]

This looks promising...

 

Denis Villeneuve has been named as director for the next Bond film, setting the stage for all that comes.  Villeneuve refers to himself as "a die-hard Bond fan".  

 

But first he'll complete Dune: Messiah.  

 

 

 

(As the last Bond thread was locked a few months back, I appeal to all to keep the discussion classy.)

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Small update - very small in one case:

 

Over on the gaming thread about 007: First Light, I fed in the studio's comment about it being a completely independent plot and story. 

But. There's a widely reported claim that Amazon has casting feelers out for a British male - or someone who can convincingly fake it - under 30. So, full reboot.

 

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/amazon-james-bond-wants-tom-holland-jacob-elordi-1236442329/

 

If you don't want to click, they're looking at:

• Jacob Alordi (maybe?)
• Harris Dickinson (...who?)
  and... 
• Tom Holland??? (ooh, lookit da wittle secret agent, he's so adorab... seriously, love the guy, but no. )
• There was also an earlier rumour about Aaron Taylor-Johnson, so maybe.

Hilarious as the Holland rumour is, I don't think they'd dare. Besides, he still has the Marvel franchise: and while he's growing as an actor, the Bourne Identity babyface to killer switch has been done and Matt Damon did it brilliantly. Trying to pull the same stunt in a Bond movie seems excessive.

[Scarlet Shocker]

A few years back I did see someone suggest Chris Hemsworth which isn't the worst choice ever

 

I'm very sad for recent Bond developments. I suspect we'll get a flop movie followed by a cashcow Amazon Prime TV series.

 

I have little faith that the new owners will serve Bond well, but then I think the Broccolli family didn't always do great. Craig's outing promised so much with Casino Royale but it tailed off rapidly after that with some bright points along the way.

 

I think one of the big challenges the new production will have to have is to make it feel fresh and distinct compared to all that's gone before which for a 65 year old franchise will be a challenge.

 

I've often thought perhaps they might do a much more noir and book-faithful rendition, shot in black & white, set in the late 50s and retelling the stories in the books. Badge it as "Ian Fleming's James Bond" and you have a handy little franchise reboot that keeps the punters coming in and can still get original mileage out of it.

[Techwright]

On 7/1/2025 at 6:01 PM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

• Harris Dickinson (...who?)

 

Haven't a clue.  Looked at IMDB for his work and the only two names I recognized are The King's Man and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistence.  To be fair though, Sean Connery had a body of work before Dr. No, but the only real standouts were Darby O'Gill and the Little People and The Longest Day.   So maybe going with a relative unknown can pay off.

 

As to New Bond,  I think there's going to be a lot of Brits really put out, miffed even, if the actor is anything other than a Brit, or at least from the Commonwealth, like George Lazenby was.  I've seen discussions on this many times over the last 20 years or so, and I get the impression that not casting a Brit would trigger a riot likely to overthrow the government.  I'm fine with that status quo, so long as popular American characters remain with American actors.  I'm thinking of future Indiana Jones works (you know Disney won't end that potential cash cow, but just rest it for a while) and Jack Ryan stories.