Christopher Nolan is denying the rumors that he’s going to be directing the next James Bond.
In a recent interview with the AP, Nolan was asked about whether he has signed on to direct the next Bond. “No, sadly no,” said Nolan. “No truth to those rumors, but I’m very thrilled the strike is over and we can all get back to work.”
In October 14, a Nolan rep had vehemently denied these Bond rumors to me, calling them “total fantasy.” However, the rumor never was that he had signed on, but, rather, was talking to Bond producer Barbara Broccoli about potentially directing the next film. Nothing was set in stone.
Regardless, WoR, NME and The Daily Mail all had sources about this being a possibility. It didn’t help that producer Barbara Broccoli had publicly expressed interest in Nolan, and, more recently, actually attended a guild screening of “Oppenheimer.”
Broccoli mentioned that there wouldn’t be a new Bond for at least “3-4 more years.” Obviously, the popular choice would be Nolan, it’d be very interesting to see what he does with this franchise, but it would require a major multi-year investment on his part. Maybe he could sneak in a new film before embarking on Bond. That’d be the ideal outcome.
Another heavily rumored director that could also helm the next 007 instalment would be Denis Villeneuve, who was very close to directing the last film, “No Time to Die”. Deadline’s Baz Bamigboye had reported that Daniel Craig was actively pursued Villeneuve.
However, Villeneuve turned it down as he went on to embark on “Dune.” Cary Fukunaga ended up getting the gig instead.