After much speculation Daniel Craig will return for at
least one Bond film and perhaps another. He wasn’t very happy at the end of
shooting Spectre and suggested he was ready to walk away. His return puts his
planned Showtime series Purity on the back burner for now. James Bond 25 has
been announced for a release date of 11/8/2019. The story will come from Bond
veterans Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. So far three directors have been rumored
for the film and they include Blade Runner 2049’s Denis Villenueve, Hell or High
Water’s David MacKenzie and ‘71s Yann Demange. Sam Mendes will likely produce
the film but made it clear he had no interest in directing another Bond film at
the moment. There are rumors that the Bond Universe will also expand. When Die
Another Day came out there was talk about a spin-off following Halle Berry’s
Jinx character. There are also questions on where the rights to the films are
going to go to. MGM’s deal with Sony is over and suitors include Apple, Amazon,
Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony, Universal and Fox. The Apple involvement suggests
that they want ownership of the entire franchise and not just the film rights.
If Warner Brothers wins the rights the post-Craig era may involve Dunkirk’s
Christopher Nolan who had made it clear he wants to do a Bond film just not with
Daniel Craig. He wants to do a total reboot and thinks Tom Hardy would be
perfect for the role. Hardy would have the rough edge that Craig brought to the
franchise. |