Horror filmmaker Osgood Perkins (“Longlegs”) is out promoting his upcoming Stephen King adaptation, “The Monkey,” and was able to answer a slew of fan questions during a chat session with users on a Reddit AMA. While asked specifically about tackling franchise projects the director talked up the wishlist idea of doing a “Star Wars” project with a hypothetical Darth Vader solo film (something not officially happening) and taking his name out of the running to direct “Bond 26” for Amazon MGM Studios due to company CEO Jeff Bezos.
A user on Reddit took the opportunity to ask Perkins his thoughts about the James Bond recasting and if he’d be up to directing the movies in the wake of the Amazon takeover. Perkins simply said in response to that idea, “No, because f**k Jeff Bezos.”
Lastly, Perkins said his ideal film where budgeting wouldn’t be an issue would be “the collected dreams and nightmares of Darth Vader told as short stories.” Unclear how serious he is about jumping into the “Star Wars” universe, but stranger things have happened.
This comes after Bezos and Amazon reportedly shelled out a hefty $1 billion to remove longtime franchise producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, so they could secure full creative control from now (starting with “Bond 26“). The next installment will see a new actor suit up as the iconic MI6 Agent.
Perkins’ sentiment, joking or not, might have something to do with Bezos being well documented as an anti-union (as his Amazon warehouse workers are slowly unionizing across the country but managers and corporate brass are attempting to hinder those efforts) and has most recently cozied up to President Trump, even when he has amped-up his extremist policies attacking America’s immigration population and allied nations with ill-advised executive orders.
Many folks have repeatedly suggested that Christopher Nolan (“The Odyssey”) should circle back to Bond after multiple meetings over the years with EON Productions, although, given his experience with Warner Bros. (ending his relationship there to work with Universal on Best Picture winner “Oppenheimer” after the mishandling of “Tenet”) he will be likely extremely skeptical of another questionable company/studio with ethical red flags attached to them.
What should we make of this? Perkins will likely keep making his own projects for the foreseeable future until he’s not.
