Given that the last movie made nearly a billion dollars, and the one before that made over a billion, it’s a little surprising that movement hasn’t been quicker on the next, and twenty-fifth, James Bond movie. But then again, after glowing notices for “Skyfall,” critical and audience response was decidedly cooler on “Spectre,” a bloated mess of a film, and with Daniel Craig visibly exhausted by the franchise machinery, it was clear a bit of a breath was needed rather than jumping into another entry.
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Word still isn’t clear whether Craig will be back — he’s contracted for one more, but producers likely wouldn’t fight him if he decided to hang up his tuxedo — but after Dave Bautista hinted that he could return as henchman Hinx last week, some more 007 rumor-mongering has arrived, with Indiewire giving the first solid name of a director who might be in contention.
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According to the site, producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are pleased with their new movie “Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool,” which stars Annette Bening as Hollywood actress Gloria Grahame, and are now strongly considering that film’s director, Paul McGuigan, take over the Bond series. McGuigan’s no newcomer: the Scottish helmer initially broke through alongside Paul Bettany with “Gangster No. 1” in 2000, and went on to make his Hollywood debut with “Wicker Park.”
Follow-ups “Lucky Number Slevin” and “Push” were moderately successful, but McGuigan reinvented his career with the pilot episode for smash hit “Sherlock,” establishing the show’s ‘distinctive visual style. Since then, he’s mostly worked in TV, including two episodes of “Luke Cage” and the pilot for “Designated Survivor,” with his sole recent movie “Victor Frankenstein” being a bit of a whiff for all involved.
McGuigan’s a solid, capable pair of hands, with plenty of action and character experience, but we’d be lying if we said this didn’t feel like a bit of a return to the Roger Spottiswoode days of pliable, unshowy filmmakers after the two Mendes movies — then again, regular writers Purvis & Wade are involved too, so this doesn’t seem like an attempt to mix things up. But it’s early days — bidding is still underway on rights to the next Bond movie, for one — and McGuigan is still only under consideration, so it could end up in different hands when all’s said and done. More news as it develops.