Film fans the world over were shocked by the announcement on Twitter that Danny Boyle will be not directing Bond 25 with the reason being creative differences with Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, and Daniel Craig. This is a big blow to Bond fans who were anticipating Boyle’s take on the franchise. Filming is set to start in three months and with the last minute change of director it may force Eon Productions to push back Bond 25‘s release date to 2020.
The Bond gig is a job many directors would kill for but considering the circumstances Boyle left Eon needs to find a high calibre filmmaker that Craig would respect whilst also be able to collaborate with the producers.
Jon S. Baird
Jon S. Baird is the first of three Scottish directors to make it onto this list. He started his directional career with the football hooliganism film Cass but he really won fans with his second film Filth – an adaptation of an Irvine Welsh novel. Filth was a dark comedy that turned into a dark character studied – anchored by a great performance by James McAvoy. It was a surreal, stylised film and Baird did not hide where he got his influences from – Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange and Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Trainspotting. Considering Baird’s ability to replicate those films he would have no problem honouring the look and tone of the majority of Bond films.
Susanne Bier
Susanne Bier is a successful filmmaker from Denmark and was seen as an early contender to direct Bond 25. Bier success has mostly been in her homeland, making films like Brothers (Brødre), After the Wedding and the Oscar-winning drama In a Better World. Yet the main reason she was considered a contender was due to her work on the miniseries The Night Manager – a complex spy thriller based on a John le Carré novel and it would be the kind of story that would work in a Bond film – it involved the secret arms trade.
Bier makes high-quality dramas with top performances and she would have technical ability to make a great Bond film. It would also be a bold statement for the franchise to hire its first female director.
John Hillcoat
Australian-Canadian director John Hillcoat is a director who has a lot of pedigree, making feature films and music videos. He started his film career in the late ’80s but he came to international prominence with his 2005 Australian set Western The Proposition. Since then he has adapted Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and made the Prohibition era gangster film Lawless.
Hillcoat is a high-quality filmmaker who makes genre films and is able to elevate them with his focus on character development, strong themes and fantastic visuals from the camera and art departments. Hillcoat often gets great performances from his actors and many of his films have been thrillers and crime films which would suit the Bond series. He could make a striking Bond film.
Kevin Macdonald
Hailing from Glasgow Kevin Macdonald is a director with experience making documentaries, feature films and TV shows. He won an Academy Award One Day in September – a documentary about the Munich Massacre, the murder of 11 Israeli athletes during the Olympic Games. His other documentaries have included Touching the Void and Marley.
Macdonald started his feature film career with The Last King of Scotland which is still his best-regarded film – it earned Forest Whitaker an Academy Award. His other credits include State of Play, The Eagle, and Black Sea. Macdonald has a lot of experience making thrillers and The Eagle shows what he is capable of with action.
Macdonald’s experience with documentaries he could ensure Bond 25 has a gritty and authentic feel.
David Mackenzie
The final Scot who could do a great job with the Bond series is David Mackenzie. Mackenzie had a respectable history – making films like Perfect Sense and Starred Up – and he became a directing force with his neo-western Hell and High Water which earned him an Oscar nomination. Mackenzie is known for given his films a gritty, grounded look and he would be a good fit for the Bond franchise and he could inject some social commentary into the Bond series.
Mackenzie next film is The Outlaw King – a historical epic about Robert the Bruce during the Scottish War for Independence. It is set to be released on Netflix and is opening the Toronto Film Festival. He is currently considered the favourite by the bookmakers William Hill.
Steve McQueen
Artist turned director Steve McQueen is one of the most celebrated new directors from the UK – making award-winning films like Hunger and 12 Years a Slave. He started with a small film – Hunger that gave Michael Fassbender an early leading role and each film he has made progressively gotten bigger. His films are blessed with excellent performances and his trademark long takes like the intense whipping scene in 12 Years a Slave. Imagine what he could do with a Bond action scene.
McQueen’s next film will see the director take a sharp turn into genre cinema with the promising looking Widows, a female-led heist film. Widows has an ensemble cast that features Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell and Daniel Kaluuya and it is set to premier at the Toronto Film Festival.
Morten Tyldum
Norwegian director Morten Tyldum is someone who would be a great fit for the Bond series. Tyldum first came to international prominence with his Norwegian thriller Headhunters which saw a womanising art thief ends up crossing a special forces soldier with the determination of a Terminator. It was a film that was a thriller and had a comedic edge, perfect for Bond.
Since Headhunters Tyldum has gone on to make The Imitation Game which earned him an Oscar nomination and he made the historical drama like a thriller as the Bletchley Park codebreakers rush to break the Enigma code and face impossible moral decisions. He also made the sci-fi film Passengers which was met with a poor critical reception but liked by audiences. It showed that Tyldum could still combine dark themes with humour and that he could handle big special effects.
Denis Villeneuve
Québéc naive Denis Villeneuve is an in-demand director who has quickly developed a devoted fanbase and was even offered the chance to direct Bond 25 but turned it down because he is set to make Dune. However, considering how long it has taken to develop a new Dune film so it wouldn’t be surprising if there was another delay to the film.
Villeneuve is seen as the go-to guy to make high-quality genre films – he did the impossible and made a great sequel to the classic sci-fi film Blade Runner. His filmography includes Prisoners, Sicario and Arrival. His films – whether they were sci-fi and crime – often have a thriller element and complex plotting, fitting for the Bond series. He could give Daniel Craig a worthy final outing as Bond.
James Watkins
When the casting call for Bond 25 was revealed it announced that the film was going to have Russian characters to play the male and female leading roles – suggesting that they were going to play the villain and the Bond girl. If the producers decide to keep these characters it would suggest that Bond 25 is going to tap into contemporary themes about Russian hacking, oligarchs and potential links between the Russian state and organised crime.
If Bond 25 keeps this casting notice and potential plotline then it would bare quite a few similarities to the TV series McMafia and if that’s the case Eon could hire that series director, James Watkins.
Watkins started his career as a horror director – making Eden Lake and The Woman in Black – before moving to TV. He made a fast-paced episode of Black Mirror where two men are blackmailed to do tasks for a hacker and McMafia was a globetrotting story that looked at the complex nature of organised crime.
Watkins’ first foray into action cinema was lacklustre – making the film Bastille Day which was renamed The Take for its home release. It was a standard thriller that overused shaky cam for the action sequences. However, the Bond series has a strong stunt team who handle the action like second unit director Alexander Witt and stunt coordinator Gary Powell.
In the screenplay needs to be rewritten Watkins and Eon could always get the McMafia co-creator Hossein Amini to punch up the script.
Joe Wright
Last but certainly not least is Joe Wright. Wright is one of the best directors of his generation, making Pride and Prejudice, Atonement and Darkest Hour. He was nominated for an Academy Award for work on Atonement and many of his films have received Oscar nominations. Back when Skyfall was in pre-production Wright offered his services to direct and he showed his ability with the action genre with the fantastic Hanna – a film that has earned a cult following.
Wright’s films are known for being lavish productions, having fantastic costumes and his favourite technique is the tracking shot – he has created some terrific sequences like Atonement‘s Dunkirk scene, the dancing scene in Anna Karenina and Eric Bana getting to be a badass in Hanna. Wright would be able to make a Bond film that is gritty and glamorous and his work on Hanna shows what he is capable of.
