007: 5 Directors Who Almost Helmed A Bond Movie (And 5 Who Should)
The most important hire in the making of a James Bond movie is the casting of 007 himself, but the second most important is choosing a director. To pull off a great Bond movie, a filmmaker needs to have a fundamental understanding of what makes the character and his stories work, a unique take on the familiar formula, and most importantly, a strong command of directing action.
When a new Bond movie is in development, the first few choices for the director’s chair might turn down the job, or suffer from creative differences with the producers. So, here are five directors who almost helmed a 007 movie, and five who should in the future.
10 Almost Did: Alfred Hitchcock (From Russia With Love)
After the success of Dr. No made a Bond franchise viable, the producers were quick to start work on a sequel, From Russia with Love. At one point in the movie’s development, Alfred Hitchcock was reportedly interested in directing.
He also later considered directing Thunderball. Hitchcock is responsible for some of the greatest spy movies ever made, from Notorious to North by Northwest, so it would be interesting to see what he would’ve done with a Bond movie.
9 Should: Edgar Wright
Having won the hearts of millions of fans with the genre-lampooning Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy and proven himself as an action director with Baby Driver, Edgar Wright is a no-brainer to direct a Bond movie.
After Danny Boyle quit No Time to Die, Wright was on the studio’s shortlist to replace him. As long as the producers don’t screw him like Marvel did with Ant-Man, Wright could turn out a fantastic Bond film.
8 Almost Did: Steven Spielberg (The Spy Who Loved Me)
Steven Spielberg was one of the first directors considered for The Spy Who Loved Me. He’d always wanted to direct a Bond movie and even asked the producers for the opportunity. However, the producers had cold feet due to Spielberg’s lack of filmmaking experience (at the time) and the director already had his hands full with the pre-production on Jaws, so it didn’t happen.
Spielberg later teamed up with George Lucas on Raiders of the Lost Ark because he saw it as an opportunity to create an American answer to James Bond.
7 Should: Christopher McQuarrie
After directing two Mission: Impossible movies, and currently working on another two back-to-back, Christopher McQuarrie might not be interested in helming a Bond movie. You can only make so many espionage-themed blockbusters before wanting a change of pace.
But Mission: Impossible – Fallout blew moviegoers away with its visceral spectacle and gargantuan scale. If McQuarrie could bring that to a Bond movie, we’d be in good hands.
6 Almost Did: John Woo (GoldenEye)
In any discussion of the greatest action filmmakers of all time, John Woo is likely to be one of the first names that comes up. Early in development on GoldenEye, the 007 producers wanted to hire Woo to direct, as the early drafts had a crazy number of action sequences and they wanted someone who could handle non-stop visceral action.
Based on Hard Boiled, The Killer, and A Better Tomorrow, Woo was more than qualified. Although he was honored to be offered a Bond movie, Woo turned down the offer. The action scenes from the early drafts ended up being peppered throughout Pierce Brosnan’s subsequent Bond movies.
5 Should: Lynne Ramsay
Throughout the 2010s, Lynne Ramsay quietly emerged as one of the greatest filmmakers working today. Ramsay’s dark, character-focused movies like We Need to Talk About Kevin have proven her to be a formidable cinematic force.
In particular, You Were Never Really Here is proof that Ramsay could direct a gritty, hyperviolent Bond movie that would make Casino Royale look like The Spy Next Door.
4 Almost Did: Peter Jackson (The World Is Not Enough)
Having been a huge fan of Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, Barbara Broccoli was eager to hire him to direct The World is Not Enough. However, when she saw Jackson’s supernatural comedy The Frighteners, she turned against his directorial style and changed her mind.
Before Michael Apted was eventually hired to helm the project, Gremlins director Joe Dante was considered for the job.
3 Should: Steve McQueen
After he delivered genre thrills and shocking plot twists while keeping the tone grounded in Widows, there’s no doubt that Steve McQueen could make an incredible James Bond movie.
McQueen’s introspective look at flawed characters could deconstruct the Bond mythos in a way that the outdated franchise is desperately crying out for.
2 Almost Did: Danny Boyle (No Time To Die)
Daniel Craig’s final Bond film, No Time to Die, which was due to be released this April before the coronavirus pandemic pushed it back a few months, was initially set to be directed by Danny Boyle.
Boyle later quit the project due to creative differences with the producers and he was replaced by True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga.
1 Should: Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan’s latest movie, Tenet, is a spy thriller, and it looks like it’ll give us an idea of how a James Bond movie directed by Nolan might play out. We also got a glimpse at what a Nolan-helmed 007 set piece would look like with the snowbound shootout in Inception.
But it would be terrific to see Nolan being given carte blanche and IMAX cameras by the Bond producers to go wild with a standalone masterpiece hitting the familiar beats while having a larger Nolan-esque sense of profundity.