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Think he may well have been second to Villeneuve if rumours are to be believed.
I like Berger as a director. I’d be interested.
I feel as though he could take what Villeneuve does and just oil the hinges and loosen things up a bit, at least looking at Ballard of a small player, I see the potential.
Yeah! My feeling as well. I mean Conclave and All Quiet aren’t exactly a ball of laughs…
There are many different Bond films so technically you can hire very different directors.
…but Deutschland 83 was a pretty funny spy miniseries. He’s got range, and could go either way.
Dunno 🤷, haven’t seen it. I’ve only watched his stuff that he’s recently done. Was it funny? I think the guy is an exceptional talent, with keen eye for cinematic imagery, but, at least in his recent work, it seems to shows a filmmaker exploring themes that are pretty deep and thought provoking. I never got a sense of him exactly being a ball of laughs. Nor the material he chooses.
Deutschland 83 has a streak of black comedy running through it, though I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a comedy. I really liked. I think gallows humour works well for Bond, and Berger might well be a good fit, if he was interested. Of course you might be right in thinking he wouldn’t go for it at this stage of his career, though, not when he seems to be able to get funding for whatever he wants to shoot.
If you could get any script of yours made, would you write a Bond film, or would you write something original?
I would never want to write a Bond film.
I can’t fully believe that @peter you would at least want to share a few ideas, like me :)
No, I’d never want to write a Bond film. Script doctoring, yeah. Absolutely. Writing one from scratch? Never. I couldn’t do it.
Thank you, I’m mostly well! As you said, maybe script doctoring, definitely tossing ideas out for use (as long as I get some form of credit). Other than that, I have a Bond short story in mind. I hope you are doing well yourself!
Keep writing, ✍️, Max. It’s a great exercise for the brain, and opens up that creativity!
Thank you for the encouragement @peter its always good to hear from you and your opinions, Bond or not.
Same for Patrick Melrose. And that’s a great way of putting it - that gallows humour could work for Bond. I’d be interested.
Also writing (or doing anything) for Bond seems like a burden of a task, but a really compelling one. Not for the faint hearted, but probably an amazing experience for those who are lucky enough to be involved.
One thing that I noticed with Richard Maibaum was that for all of his ego and criticizing others, he really did have a passion for Bond. In his interviews, he didn’t hide his passion. You could tell that he truly enjoyed writing them (usually by himself, obviously). With interviews with Purvis and Wade, I don’t fully get that feeling, even with them both being big Fleming fans. Plus, some of their more recent comments make me feel like it’s time for them to move on. Even some big named authors have turned down writing a Bond novel because of the pressure and lack of creative control (Lee Child for one). For all we know, there could be a third writer with Steven Knight and Denis Villeneuve. Possibly for the next Bond movie after this one.
It really gives me a heavily heart to hear him say he's been a lifelong fan, and would've loved to do it. I increasingly often the opinion that Villeneuve is not the right man for the job, and was picked on name recognition over what he would actually bring to it. I know people will say I'm being too hasty and we haven't seen his movie yet to judge it, but I should still get to have an opinion, and based on his other work I just think his style is too brooding and slow and not quirky or Lively enough for Bond. Someone like Berger would be perfect, and I really hope he is considered for Bond 27 as that is a film I would love to see. I Bond 26 gets off the ground for a Christmas 2027 release like some people seem adamant is the case, then maybe it wouldn't be too long for the follow up.
Villeneuve wasn't chosen because of "name recognition". He was chosen because he pitched an idea that the producers liked best, @Mendes4Lyfe .
Villeneuve, Berger, and whoever else was interviewed for the job, were ALL called in because of name recognition , but the person who got the job pitched the best story, at least according to the bosses, Heyman and Pascal.
And no one is adamant about release dates-- except you. Everyone else has tossed in "best guesses".
But The Odyssey comes out a 5 months BEFORE Dune Part 3, and that didn't stop Denis signing on to direct.
I remember hearing that Nolan was Amazons first choice and they were willing to give him final cut, unlike Villeneuve.
Neither have I. Can @Mendes4Lyfe or @SecretAgentMan⁰⁰⁷ please copy the link to these rumours. I’d like to read them (I’ve searched and can’t find anything, other than fan talk, saying Nolan will be directing the first Amazon Bond film.
Oh @peter I have no links, that why I said it was a rumour. Don't know if @Mendes4Lyfe has it, though. But it's unlikely. I don't know.
It’s tricky saying how true that is (I mean, we know he wasn’t a director who pitched to them, and as you said Villeneuve has another film he’s working on which seems to have a longer time frame. Maybe Nolan did ultimately rule himself out but he was one of many directors they were looking at… I don’t know).
Anyway, I'm not keen on Nolan doing it honestly.
Thanks for that, @Mendes4Lyfe .
Did you read the initial Variety report that’s linked?
It stated they were very interested in Nolan…and were willing to give Final Cut — they didn’t say Nolan was “first choice” as you said.. Here’s the quote:
“Initially, Amazon was very interested in Christopher Nolan, who is Jonathan’s brother, even if that meant breaking a decades-long rule of not allowing a Bond director to have final cut.”
So, we can absolutely assume that, initially, by “name recognition” there were the front runners of Nolan, Villeneuve, Cuaron and Berger (if not a number of other names that haven’t made their way into the public eye). But there was absolutely no talk of Nolan being “first choice”.
I mean he might very well have been, but as good producers do, they don’t put all their eggs in one basket and they interview the best of the best, the cream of the crop. And Nolan, like the others, would still have had to pitch his take— and there’s no way of knowing if this would have beaten Villeneuve’s, or the other contenders pitches.
Nolan’s name was probably one of five or eight or ten directors that these guys wanted to at least interview for the job. But producers like this very rarely do the coronation thing and have a “first choice”; Bezos, and those not in the actual business of filmmaking may’ve wanted Nolan as their first choice.
But producers of this pedigree have been around the block too many times to ever speak of talent this way. They make lists of best candidates. Do the the interviews or auditions (if we are speaking of actors), and move from there.