Fans of 007 have been wondering what the story is with the next James Bond film, known only as Bond 25 at this point, and why there hasn’t been much in the way of news on the subject. Part of it may be that producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are waiting for Daniel Craig’s schedule to be free to fit the next film in, and part of it may be that they just don’t know which was to go following the mixed reaction that the last film, Spectre, received by critics.
Neal Purvis, who with Robert Wade co-wrote every Bond film from 1999’s The World Is Not Enough through 2012’s Skyfall, while also contributing to Spectre, was interviewed by The Telegraph and offered up some of the potential challenges facing the new film creatively. “I’m just not sure how you would go about writing a James Bond film now,” he said. “Each time, you’ve got to say something about Bond’s place in the world, which is Britain’s place in the world. But things are moving so quickly now that that becomes tricky. With people like Trump, the Bond villain has become a reality. So when they do another one, it will be interesting to see how they deal with the fact that the world has become a fantasy.”
Of course, if you listen to England’s Express, some form of production of the next film is imminent, the site reporting that the script is thought to have been finished (this despite the fact that there’s been no announcement of writers) and that the production team has secured a Bell UH-1D/Huey helicopter from a Germany aeronautical museum that will supposedly be destroyed in a major action sequence. Take this one with a major grain of salt.
Beyond Bond himself, there’s a question of who would direct, given that Sam Mendes, who took on both Skyfall and Spectre, has decided to move on. One candidate could be Chad Stahelski, currently represented in cinemas by John Wick Chapter 2, who, while promoting that film, commented, “I’m interested in projects where you can world create. To jump back into somebody else’s world where it’s already been around for so long would be scary. But if there was one property, that wouldn’t be a bad one to try and invest yourself…. I think the timing is good for a slight reinvention with a different perspective shift.” Given the energy of the John Wick film, that kind of infusion wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.