Good. Gender should not preclude one from being considered.
Similarly, one’s nationality should also not be a factor.
Yes, the old policy that Bond directors should be British is, well, old.
Don’t think Eon has taken that seriously for a while. Of the 6 directors since BB took over, 50% of them haven’t been Brits.
I suspect by now it’s really just a question of who among a pool of trending suspects is available and willing. Eon would have their criteria and demands, no doubt. But nationality would likely not figure all that prominently in their considerations - even though, as a ‘British’ production, talent from the UK may have an edge.
This has come up in the past. A good director is a good director, but there’s only a few that come to mind who could fit the bill for tackling a production of Bond’s scale. Man or woman. Kathryn Bigelow has been on my radar since Blue Steel and Point Break. Also, that little golden statue she got a few years ago would add a bit of prestige to the production, but she’s very competent with story, drama and action as well.
Given all the recent directorial upheavals at LucasFilm and Warners, they may just be thinking, “Please God, just let us have the same director at the end of filming as we did at the start of production!”
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I remember her talking about it actually, she was saying that it isn’t something she’d be immediately attracted to, as it’s closer to pure escapism than she’d normally do. Will try and find the interview…
Oh here we go, Pascal had approached her at some point but Bigelow was more interested in the journalistic quality of film.
With regards to Warner and Lucasfilm, there is a certain sentiment going around in the industry that you’ve got to deal with a lot of their ‘input’, mildly put. If you know what that means, if you’ve been there before and if you’re okay with it, then that may not even be a bad thing. But directors do have their own vision, that’s what they are paid for. Every once in a while it happens that there is no way you can fit that vision into the studio’s own. Better to leave it then.
Eon on the other hand seem to have granted their directors plenty of room, as far as one can tell without being personally involved. I suppose there are - for the sheer scale of the venture - few productions in the genre that offer their directors a similar degree of opportunities to make their own film.
My one, singular problem with a woman director is it would turn all of the attention regarding Bond 25 to that fact that a woman directed it. That is ALL the press would focus on. From the moment it is announced it would be a political lightening rod and some of the fun would be sucked out of it.
Just the mention of Idris Elba’s name sparked chat show debates and magazine articles. Even for Spectre, Daniel was getting questions about whether Bond could be black or a woman (heck, look at the attention Daniel being blonde got). None of this should matter in 2017, but it absolutely would…
I’m not sure…would it really? Personally, I couldn’t care less as long as the film itself is solid and entertaining. I think today it shouldn’t actually be a big deal if a woman is directing a Bond film. I’ve seen plenty of male directors ‘getting Bond wrong’ too. I think the first Bond film by a woman will get some attention for it, yes. But there’s quite enough of more substance that should capture our interest instead.
Im in the same boat as you, the gender of the director is immaterial, a male director and female director are equally capable of making a brilliant movie or a crap one, however, look at the reaction to Rachel Talalay directing Doctor Who and then the same reaction wheb she directed Sherlock - Every article made a thing about her gender rather than her incredible CV that most directors would kill to have!
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First I’d like to heave a sigh and say ‘what a sensationalist non-story’. Barbara Broccoli was asked if she would consider a female director and she said ‘of course’. That does not mean they’re considering a female director for Bond 25. In fact I’m pretty confident they’re not given that the shortlist was released a while back and Yann Demange is currently the frontrunner (he’s half Algerian by the way, that’s pretty neat from a diversity standpoint).
I’m not opposed to diversity, in front or behind the camera. In fact I think it’s a good thing. I’m just getting fed up with the way it’s being presented in the media. I find attributing Wonder Woman’s success to fact it was directed by a woman to be very disrespectful to Patty Jenkins. It was a success because she was a talented filmmaker who had a passion for the material, something that had been missing from the previous DCEU films. Thinking you can replicate that success by just hiring more women would be a classic case of Hollywood learning the wrong lessons.
A while back Susanne Bier’s name was floated as a possible director for Bond 25. I found her to be one of the most interesting suggestions, not because she’s a woman, but because she did a great job with the a John le Carré adaptation The Night Manager.
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Bigelow should be approached for her take on it (been a fan since Near Dark), but she hasn’t sounded to interested recently.
Lynne Ramsey would be an interesting choice for Craig - i think her artistic flair and ear for truth would bring out the best in his Bond (as opposed to Skyfall and Spectre’s nods to Moore’s one liner par excellence exposing his non-aptitude for comedy).
Martin Campbell: born & raised in New Zealand
Roger Spottiswoode: born in Canada, raised in Britain
Michael Apted: British
Lee Tamahori: born & raised in New Zealand
Marc Forster: born in Germany, raised in Germany and Switzerland
Sam Mendes: British
Indeed, Campbell, Tamahori and Forster are who I was referring to.
I’m wondering if, considering this is the 25th James Bond film, that’ they’ll use one of the few remaining Fleming titles?
Property of a Lady or Risico? 007 in New York sounds trite. I’m plumping for PoaL.
“007 in New York” was never Fleming’s title. “Reflections in a Carey Cadillac” was. Blame Peter Janson-Smith for the substitute title.
Any chance we can start a movement here demanding that the story only be referred to by Fleming’s superior title, but that IFP rename the story accordingly in all future editions?
At this point I’m beyond Fleming for the sake of Fleming. On a purely aesthetic level I like of Property of a Lady and if they want to use elements of the story (paying off double agent Maria Freudenstein with the sale of an art treasure) for the next film then I’m on board with that. What I don’t want to see is the title slapped onto an original story like they did with Quantum of Solace.
On the other hand I’d be perfectly happy if I never saw a Bond film called Risico or 007 in New York/ Reflections in a Carey Cadillac.
I liked QOS as a title for the film, it actually makes sense on the film. A view to a kill is crowbarred on, but otherwise the series has been quite good at titles that make sense in context - Even Die Another Day is more clever than at first it seems (it’s a shout out to a poem about deserters)