Why Denis Villeneuve is the best (and worst) choice for the next James Bond movie

Posted On June 26, 2025June 26, 2025

Ever since Amazon MGM announced in February that it had taken over creative control of the James Bond franchise from the Broccoli family, speculation over a few major talking points began to run rampant. Naturally, most fans started obsessing over the all-important question of who Amazon would pick to play the new Bond, in the wake of Daniel Craig’s exit from the franchise after 2021’s No Time to Die. However, the question of who the director of the next movie would be also generated a lot of column inches – and now we have our answer.

On June 26th, it was announced that Dune and Blade Runner 2049 visionary Denis Villeneuve had signed up to bring Bond back to the big screen. The French-Canadian filmmaker is easily one of the most acclaimed directors of the last decade, having built a sterling reputation in Hollywood with the likes of Prisoners, Sicario, and Arrival, before putting his stamp on those classic sci-fi franchises and raking in huge numbers at the box office in the process.

In a statement, Villeneuve reassured fans that he has always been a “die-hard” Bond fan, and he fully intends to “honour the tradition” of the series. “I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr No with Sean Connery,” the excited director said. “To me, he’s sacred territory.”

Reaction to Villeneuve being handpicked as the man to lead the Bond franchise forward was largely positive, with Ajay Chowdhury, a spokesperson for the James Bond International Fan Club, telling the BBC his appointment is “the most artistically significant development” that the franchise has seen in many years. It’s hard to argue with this, as Villeneuve is undoubtedly a director with a distinct style and point of view in his films, and he will surely bring that chilly, foreboding vibe to whatever adventure he cooks up for the world’s favourite superspy.

In this way, Villeneuve is arguably the best choice to direct Bond because he’s already proven he can make hugely successful, yet highly artistic, movies on a grand scale that connect with audiences. In truth, if Amazon wasn’t going to pick the fan-favourite Christopher Nolan – another director with a distinct style all his own – to helm the next movie, then Villeneuve is the logical next choice. He certainly seems like a better option than some other directors who reportedly pitched on the project, like Baby Driver’s Edgar Wright, Wonka’s Paul King, and Fallout’s Jonathan Nolan.

However, there is a flipside to Villeneuve making a Bond movie, and to Amazon mainly pursuing directors with auteur credentials. You see, until the likes of Marc Forster, Sam Mendes, and Cary Joji Fukunaga directed modern franchise instalments, Bond was never a series that wanted its directors to be auteurs.

Instead, the Broccoli family – led initially by legendary producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli before he passed the reins to his daughter Barbara and her half-brother Michael G Wilson – hired journeymen directors who fit themselves within the series, as opposed to trying to reinvent the wheel. This is why some of the world’s favourite Bond movies were directed by the likes of Terence Young, Guy Hamilton, Lewis Gilbert, and John Glen.

Aside from Gilbert, who also helmed Shirley Valentine and Alfie, those directors’ credits outside Bond aren’t particularly well remembered. Still, between them, they made 15 Bond pictures, including stone-cold classics like Dr No, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Live and Let Die, and Licence to Kill. Hell, even when the series needed to reinvent itself twice with the first Pierce Brosnan and first Craig movies, the Broccolis turned to the same man: Martin Campbell, a solid pair of hands who has always made solid action movies and thrillers.

While it is admirable that Amazon want to hire a director of the calibre of Villeneuve for Bond, is Jeff Bezos really likely to give the director free rein to indulge his most esoteric tendencies within the confines of a globetrotting Bond adventure? After all, Villeneuve’s artsy approach worked in Blade Runner and Dune partly because those series have a certain level of ‘weirdness,’ for lack of a better word, built in. Bond movies are never weird, and if Villeneuve wants to push his film in that direction, will Amazon let him?

Better yet, is that really what broader audiences want to see from a Bond movie? Sure, Villeneuve might intrigue cinephiles, but will the average moviegoer warm to his languid, hypnotic oeuvre being grafted onto Bond? There’s a world in which most people simply want to sit back, relax, and watch a straightforward Bond adventure, and in that case, hiring the modern equivalent of a Martin Campbell or a Terence Young may have been the way to go.

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