Martin Campbell will forever be known as the director who successfully rebooted the James Bond franchise TWICE, one of those films being one of the best Bonds ever (“Casino Royale”).
That’s going to be Campbell’s legacy because otherwise the rest of his filmography is filled with mediocre filler such as “Memory,” “The Foreigner,” “The Green Lantern,” Vertical Limit,” “Beyond Borders,” “Edge of Darkness” and “The Protégé.”
It’s been announced that Campbell will again be directing Daisy Ridley in the action thriller “Dedication,” reuniting the duo following their recently shot “Cleaner” — set for 2025 release. It should also be noted that Campbell has another film in post-production, still waiting to be dated, it’s called “Dirty Angels” and stars Eva Green.
“Dedication,” written by Dan Gordon (“Wyatt Earp,” “The Hurricane”), follows Major Billie Jean Parker (Ridley), a decorated Marine Corps commander, who gets asked by her dying father, a former Marine, to attend a dedication ceremony for a school building named in his honor. The event takes a deadly turn when a terrorist’s vengeful son launches an assault, taking hostages.
It should also be mentioned that, alongside the two Bonds, Campbell directed 1998’s “The Mask of Zorro,” which, as far as I remember, was a fairly entertaining flick, but I haven’t seen in over 25 years, and not many people seem to remember it either.
Earlier in the year, The Telegraph reported that Campbell could potentially be rebooting Bond again for Barbara Broccoli — he was one of several names mentioned as a possibility. I wouldn’t expect that to be happen though as it sounds like Broccoli is currently looking for a younger filmmaker to steer the ship forward in the Bond franchise.