Home Entertainment Chris Nolan is apparently in "informal talks" to direct James Bond

Chris Nolan is apparently in "informal talks" to direct James Bond

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When it was announced that Sam Mendes would not be returning to helm the next James Bond flick after the stellar job he did on Skyfall, I promptly cried myself to sleep. Then cried some more. But once I got done being a sissy, I put together a list of directors who I thought could take over the reins. Danny Boyle eventually ended up being my top pick, but he then promptly told me and everybody who thought like me to sod off by saying he’ll never direct it.

But it would seem that my second choice, fan favourite director and the man in whom we trust, Christopher Nolan, may just be far more open to the idea.

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 The Daily Sun’s Baz Bamigoye is reporting that Nolan has entered “informal talks” with Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson to perhaps take over the directing reins on the franchise. This report has not been confirmed or denied by either party yet, but this story is kept floating above the rumour label due to the fact that Bamigoye was frequently on the money when it came to reports about Skyfall, during that film’s production.

What also lends this story some much needed heft, is the fact that Nolan himself has stated numerous times in the past not only that he is a massive Bond fan and that Agent 007’s adventures have influenced some of his biggest hits (the mountaintop base and ski chase in Inception is pulled directly from Bond), but also that he really wants to direct it. It’s just a matter of timing, as he explained to Empire, earlier in the year.

“It would have to be the right situation and the right time in their cycle of things.”

And “the right time” would probably be the biggest hurdle in this arrangement. After Mendes’ Skyfall became the biggest hit in the franchise’s history, earning enough money to even make a Bond villain jealous ($1.1 billion to be precise), EON Productions now wants to strike while the iron’s hot. But as Bamigoye mentions in his report, Mendes indicated that “there would be at least a year to 18 months of pre-production preparation and then six months of filming involved” for the as yet untitled Bond 24. And with EON’s rushed schedule that would mean that whoever gets picked to helm it would have to start very soon. This was the exact reason why Mendes pulled out, as it meant too much of a time commitment for him.

This would be even more inconvenient for Nolan who has just begun pre-production on his next big sci-fi flick, Interstellar, with Matthew McConnaughey and Anne Hathaway. If he were to take the Bond 24 directing gig it would not only mean a rushed schedule, but also non-stop work work right through into 2015. Not a commitment that he would make, I’d wager.

So does that mean that Bamigoye got it wrong? Well, not quite as some other insider reports have since surfaced, claiming that Nolan and his representatives are not necessarily discussing Bond 24, but rather Nolan taking the director’s chair on a future installment in the franchise.

This makes perfect sense. His schedule would be far more flexible and if he were to get into talks now already, it would mean that Nolan – infamous for being incredibly meticulous and detail oriented on his productions – would have more than enough time to dream up some of those big idea action set-pieces that he does so well.

Personally, I say that even if that’s not the case, even if he’s not actually in talks at all at the moment, a Chris Nolan directed James Bond movie is definitely still going to happen some time in the future. EON Productions would be silly to not let it, because when the director of some of the most globally popular as well as critically and financially successful hits of the last few years tells you that he’s a massive fanboy and that he wants to do your movie, YOU GIVE THE MAN THE JOB!

Last Updated: May 21, 2013

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