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It would make sense. I mean, as you pointed out there was clearly some sort of transition going on around this time anyway. And for much of 2022-23 MGW and BB seem to make use of interviews and awards to voice pretty clear creative stuff about the cinematic James Bond (ie. the ideal age of a new actor, the need for these films to be contemporary/cinematic releases, that for better or for worse they are 'custodians of the franchise' etc). It can almost be seen as a sort of public campaign for the future direction of Bond.
Again, I think it'll be a while before the background of this stuff comes out. Possibly in a book or in-depth podcast. But it brings a new perspective to what these people said publicly. Incidentally I doubt Amazon or EON are going to be commenting on it in-depth anytime soon (it may well be somewhat embarrassing for Amazon).
For a second I thought they had hired Pedro Pascal to play Bond. :D
I don't think he's any more higher profile than say Phoebe Waller Bridge, or a John Logan or Paul Haggis. Knight may have a little more general public awareness through Peaky Blinder's though. And he is used to being interviewed more than the typical screenwriter.
Perhaps I should say more "populist" writer. He seems to be able to grab headlines with sound bites Bond fans want to hear.
Did Haggis write CR script?
I hope IP like Day of the Jackal (s02) gets better development so we'll have something to content ourselves with in the meantime.
I am sure if they wanted to they could've contracted producers and directors who were more available, and fast tracked it through to have a film out in 2026, but the risk of doing that and it failing are too high. They've paid over $1bn for the rights to the series and the only way they get that back is to successfully put out well received and profitable films.
The appointment of Pascal and Heyman was a good move. Pascal has history with Bond, working studio side on CR to Spectre, and working on established big budget IP films like Spider-Man. Heyman similarly has huge experience in successfully adapting and launching British book based series (see Harry Potter and Paddington), so combining the two is astute.
Villeneuve and Knight similarly are good choices given their previous pedigree.
They're successful. And continuing to work. And so when Bond came along, if Amazon want people with proven track records to make it for them, they have to wait. And that's what they've decided to do.
Right choice so far, I feel.
From what I've read about the making of the film, the final shooting script is his work.
He also wrote at least one draft of QUANTUM OF SOLACE, turning it in immediately before the WGA strike in 2007.
Martin Campbell wanted a fresh pair of eyes on the script written by Purvis & Wade, and so brought on Haggis. He did a couple of passes over the script as well as making some changes to the third act - such as bringing Vesper into the sinking house.
The script is a little odd in that Bond is reffered to both as just 'Bond' and then later on, 'James'.
https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/Casino-Royale.pdf
My suspicion is where he is 'James' - that's Haggis' work.
Denis Villeneuve To Start Casting For An “Unknown” Brit Actor For ‘Bond 26’ When He Completes ‘Dune: Part Three’
https://deadline.com/2025/09/james-bond-cast-unknown-british-actor-denis-villeneuve-dune-1236554375/
Who knows one way or the other.
The idea of doing a Bond in the navy before his 00 recruitment is interesting, given First Light is doing that in the video game space. I guess it depends on how much of the film that will take up. I could see a scenario whereby the PTS is set in the past and shows this, and then we time jump to the present and have a more seasoned Bond (a bit like how the PTS of Goldeneye is handled).
I was asking the same: what they mean by unknown? Fresh face was what they used too.
The thing that interests me a bit more, if the article isn't out of whack, is that the process doesn't begin until Villeneuve is available. So the producers aren't presenting him with an actor, this is his movie and we won't know until then. I'm sure they're gathering a huge database in the meantime, but it does feel the right way to do it. I guess it's pretty much stand down until then.
(IF the article is right of course!)
In all seriousness, a PTS showing Bond in a royal navy uniform would be cool. Fast forward to a Section Chief Bond having to earn his 00 status.
It's Deadline, they are quite reliable.
This script is going to be impeccable by the time they get to shooting.
Bond makes actor a star.
I guess they mean people like Elordi are out.
Until they change their minds again.
No, the actor is the star who makes their version of Bond ;) They don't have to be mega famous beforehand, but they have to have that movie star potential. I don't think we can have another Lazenby.
I think the issue is its early days. Seemingly the first draft hasn't even been completed yet! As hinted we might get a PTS during Bond's navy days and then fast forward to him as a 00, or it could be a more straightforward 'Bond attains his 00 status' thing. It could even develop into something different further down the line. Same for casting. We might get a CR situation where younger, lesser knows are tested, and they go for someone a bit older and more established (but not an A-Lister/connected with another franchise). It just depends.
I kinda agree. I prefer Bond to be more established (even First Light seemingly has him as a competent, but young operative, and it fills this gap somewhat). Bond's navy days don't interest me, but I don't necessarily mind seeing Bond in his early years as an MI6 agent/00 (we sort of get that with the GE PTS), and it's a natural route to go down.
As I said we'll see what this becomes.
They will want to make it abundantly clear to a general audience that this is a completely new Bond, new timeline, and draw a line under the "death" of 007 and move on. This is a way of achieving that.
Dalton and Brosnan weren't having to deal with the on screen death of the previous actor's Bond, and were made at a time where audiences didnt really value "continuity" in the films.
It was never realistic that Villeneuve would come off Dune and smash out a Bond film in a year! It was always going to take a decent amount of time. I guess 2 years from Dune Part 3 is about right, so looking like November/December 2028.
Yes. Although that's basically what the likes of Deadline have been saying, so it's not a secret. No release date yet either.
But yeah, I think as much as they may have plans for now (I don't see any reason this is inaccurate as such/doesn't come from second hand sources) it'll come down to what they actually do. Films change direction all the time in different ways at this stage. Casting is another thing as well.