When Amazon purchased MGM for $8.5 billion back in 2022, they found themselves in the James Bond business, as the Bond franchise was set up at MGM – and they wanted to start making Bond movies as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, creative disagreements between Amazon MGM Studios and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions slowed down the process. So, last year Amazon paid off Wilson and Broccoli so they can gain creative control over the franchise for the foreseeable future – and, at the time, the reported price was another $1 billion. The project is now moving forward, with Dune trilogy director Denis Villeneuve on board to direct, Amy Pascal of Pascal Pictures and David Heyman of Heyday Films producing, and Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight writing the script. Screen Daily reports that Knight has been having conversations with secret agents while he reinvents James Bond for the modern age.
What did Steven Knight say about Bond?
Knight was hired ten months ago, and previously said that writing a Bond script “has always been on my bucket list and it’s fantastic to be invited to do it – I can’t wait to get started. I’m hoping that, being a Bond fan for so many years, it will be imbued into me and I will be able to produce something that’s the same but different, and better, stronger and bolder.“
Speaking with Screen, Knight has now said that he has been having daily conversations “with the SAS and even more secret outfits” as he works on the script. “I am talking to them about what they do every day. It’s all real. The author (of the Bond novels) was living that life. In the war, he was doing those things. He knew people doing that stuff, going out there and killing people. Ian Fleming was such a great writer. To be a writer, you have got to know about people.“
Knight feels that he has been given a licence to reinvent Bond, and has no fear of damaging the character while doing so. “Bond has been bulletproof. People have been able to make mistakes and variations, quite elaborate variations, and the character has survived because the core of it is like a diamond. You can’t touch it. The person you are talking about is folklore.“
He added that watching Bond movies was a big part of his childhood, with Sean Connery being his favorite of the actors. “It was always Connery. You’d be watching as a kid with your dad. The certainty, the confidence and the escape from something, everybody buys into that. That’s the thing with Bond, everybody wants it.“
Who will be the next James Bond?
It remains to be seen who will be putting the version of Bond that Knight writes on the page to life on the screen. It was announced just last week that the casting process is officially underway, guided by casting director Nina Gold (whose credits include Game of Thrones, The Crown, The Martian, five films in the Star Wars franchise, Conclave, and Hamnet, among others).
Jay Kelly actor Tom Francis is reported to have auditioned already, and rumors point to Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Godzilla), and Callum Turner (Eternity) as potential contenders.
Are you looking forward to seeing what Denis Villeneuve and Steven Knight’s version of James Bond is going to be like? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed