Wow. Christopher Nolan‘s made no secret over the years of his love of the James Bond franchise; he named it as an influence on his first two "Batman" movies, directly paid homage to "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service" in "Inception," and has often said that he’s like to direct a film in the franchise at some point. But given that he’s one of the few directors who could greenlight absolutely anything, we’d always wondered if it was something of a pie in the sky idea, despite his enthusiasm — especially given that many, including Sam Mendes, talked about Nolan’s influence on "Skyfall," the billion-dollar grossing last entry in the 007 series.
Well, it seems like the idea of a Nolan-helmed Bond is one step closer to actually becoming a reality, as Baz Bamigboye is reporting that ‘informal talks’ have begun between Nolan’s camp and Bond producers Eon about the "Dark Knight" director potentially directing the 24th James Bond film. Some might be skeptical, given the report’s origins in the British tabloid press, but Bamigboye is well-connected and generally on-the-money, and revealed much of the casting and other details of "Skyfall" long before the trades, so we don’t think there’s much reason to be skeptical about the report.
That said, there are plenty of reasons that this could not happen. For one, Nolan’s always been clear that he’d want to do a Bond film his way, saying last year "It would have to be the right situation and the right time in their cycle of things." And with Nolan about to get underway on his next film, sci-fi "Interstellar" starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Michael Caine, he wouldn’t be available to take over Bond until late in 2014, which would mean a release in 2015, or more realistically 2016, and one of the reasons Mendes stepped aside for "Bond 24" was the producers desire to strike when the iron’s hot. But, as Bamigboye’s source says "It does no harm for Broccoli and Wilson to talk with Nolan, even if nothing happens this time round."
So, don’t yet count on the idea of a Nolan bond as a reality, but still, it’s an exciting possibility to think about, and perhaps Eon would be willing to wait for Nolan, given that his version of 007 would surely gross all the money in the world. And if they decide to push on without him? Well, we’ve got a few other suggestions of our own, which you can read about right here. "Bond 24" will hit sometime in the future, while Nolan’s "Interstellar" opens on November 7th, 2014.
