Alex Moss EditorUPDATE: Having put together a short list of who was going to direct the next Bond movie it now seems that those on it may have got their hopes up for nothing. Like an easily despatched group of henchmen, it seems the man to bring Bond back to the big screen is in fact likely to be Skyfall director Sam Mendes. It seems official negotiations have opened between Mendes and Eon Productions for the director to return. After the success of Skyfall, which grossed a whopping $1.1 billion, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were anxious to get Mendes back for more Bond but the director seemed reluctant to commit. Mendes said he wanted to focus on his stage production of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and was unwilling to give up another three years of his life to Bond. But that seems to have changed with Broccoli and Wilson now willing to wait for Mendes to finish his theartrical work in order to get their man. While rumours of Ang Les, Christopher Nolan and Iron Man 3’s Shane Black being on a shortlist had begun to surface it seems this may have been a ploy to either keep the real man Mendes a secret or perhaps to help negotiations along. Either way it seems that Mendes will indeed be returning for more James Bond shaken not stirred action. Source – Deadline
James Bond, last seen in the box office smash Skyfall, is putting a short list together. Thankfully for those on the list it is not a hit list but rather list of potential directors to direct the next Bond outing. The lucky directors on Bond’s, and more specifically production company Eon’s, list are Drive’s Nicolas Winding Refn, Life Of Pi’s Ang Lee, Les Miserables’ Tom Hooper, Harry Potter’s David Yates and Iron Man 3’s Shane Black. Recently it was rumoured that producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were in talks with The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan but he is not mentioned on the short list being reported by Variety. While Nolan has never been shy in admitting his love of Bond it seems he’d be too busy with his upcoming Interstellar.
So on that short list there are Two Oscar winners, in the shape of Lee and Hooper, two massive box office directors in the form of Black and Yates and Winding Refn, a director who made arguably the coolest film in recent memory in Drive. So while a director is still under consideration, a script is supposedly in the works from Skyfall writer John Logan with the idea to have the film released in the next three years. So, who gets your vote? Bond traditionally likes to stick to British directors giving Yates and Hooper an advantage but let’s be honest, if Winding Refn was allowed to bring his brand of violence or Black was allowed to bring some Iron Man 3 style quips then the next Bond film could be something to get hugely excited about. Let us know who gets your vote in the comments below. Source – Variety
