The question of who’s in line to direct the next James Bond film is second only to the scurry of speculation about which actor will be donning the tuxedo of Ian Fleming’s superspy. Knocking aside the casting rumors about the next villain in a franchise known for its memorable bad guys is no mean feat. It’s even more impressive considering how few directors have taken the reins of Bond’s 25 movies.
Only 12 directors have directed an official Bond film, and five took charge of the first 16. Under the stewardship of Eon Productions, the 60-year-old franchise has famously built successive generations of loyal crew members. The early years that saw editors and assistant directors rise to direct the films may have given way to a more headhunter approach, but the well-regarded Broccoli family has retained production control. Original producer Albert R. Broccoli guided the series through a break with production partner Harry Saltzman before entrusting it to his stepson Michael G. Wilson and daughter Barbara Broccoli in the mid-1990s.
The Broccolis have maintained James Bond’s film longevity by balancing a solid formula with dynamic directors. Unsurprisingly, many directing giants have come close to helming Hollywood’s premier action saga over the years — here are nine incredible almosts.
Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle is the nearest miss in the franchise’s 60-year history. Think Timothy Dalton’s Bond deliberately missing sniper Kara Milovy in The Living Daylights.
Attached to direct and co-write the screenplay with his regular collaborator John Hodge, Boyle ran afoul of creative differences and departed the project four months before production was scheduled to start in December of 2018. At the time, rumors suggested the issue was casting, but Boyle subsequently confirmed it was down to the script.
Given the conclusive nature of the Cary Joji Fukunaga-directed No Time To Die, it’s hard to imagine what those differences were. In 2022, Boyle told Esquire Magazine his script was entirely set in Russia, with heavy nods back to the spy’s cold war roots. However, producers “just lost confidence in it.”
Quentin Tarantino
Bond movies have jumped the shark — or the crocodile — more than once. Pierce Brosnan’s final film celebrated the 40th anniversary and 20th installment of the franchise with plenty of nods to its rich history. Unfortunately, Die Another Day’s homage to the franchise’s science fiction escapades — which had previously led Sean Connery under a volcano and rocketed Roger Moore into space, combined with over-ambitious CGI — didn’t impress critics or audiences.
Eon needed to change direction, and we all know the result was ‘Bond Begins’ — when Daniel Craig took Bond back to his early literary roots via Casino Royale. But the official adaptation of Ian Fleming’s first Bond novel could have been very different. Quentin Tarantino suggested adapting the film as a 1960s period piece, shot in black and white as a reboot for Brosnan’s spy. The actor was keen, but despite the director apparently meeting the producers, Eon decided on a modern reset instead.
Steven Soderbergh
Despite the Oceans films and a diverse back-catalog of movies, Soderbergh’s name isn’t often associated with high-profile franchises. Still, the indie film pioneer is another glowing addition to this list. In 2020, the director told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he had met with producers and had come incredibly close to directing a movie.
The timing suggests this was during the Craig era (after 2006) when the closer plotting of the Quantum-SPECTRE arc couldn’t have made discussions any easier. Soderbergh admitted he loved the world of Bond and thinking about it was fun, but “we couldn’t figure it out.”
Alfred Hitchcock
The second Bond movie, From Russia With Love, isn’t just regarded as a classic but the most authentically Cold War film of the series. If its motifs are familiar — think the Lektor decoder MacGuffin and blonde leading actress — they may remind you of Hitchcock’s thrilling classics.
The director was apparently courted to direct the second Bond film and showed enough interest that his name was in the running to helm Thunderball two movies later. As those films leapfrog Goldfinger — the film credited with setting much of the familiar Bond template — the master of suspense’s involvement could have dramatically affected the franchise’s direction.
John Woo
The James Bond movies faced a massive challenge in the early 1990s when a six-year break forced Eon into a reset. Casting around for the hottest action talent at the time, John Woo naturally appealed after thrillers A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled.
GoldenEye introduced Pierce Brosnan and a new action emphasis, honing the ’80s action approach of the previous installment, License to Kill. Woo would have been a natural fit for early drafts that reportedly featured more action set pieces than other Bond movies. While the director was flattered, he declined the offer, and the action frenzy was toned down. Five years later, Woo helped turn Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible into a Bond-rivaling franchise.
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg’s early career is packed with examples of him willing himself into the director’s chair. Even if he made up the story about him setting up shop in an empty office on the Universal lot, it’s no surprise he outright asked producers to let him helm a Bond movie.
At the time, the young director was in pre-production on Jaws, so producers understandably hesitated over his lack of experience – as the film in question was arguably the definitive Roger Moore installment, The Spy Who Loved Me. The idea that Spielberg’s biggest aquatic movie could have featured Commander Bond on a jet ski rather than Bruce the Shark is fascinating. Spielberg’s legacy was felt in the iconic henchman Jaws, and the director channeled his enthusiasm into adventurer Indiana Jones four years later.
Peter Jackson
Legend has it that Bond producer Barbara Broccoli was interested in hiring Jackson in the late 1990s after seeing his film Heavenly Creatures. That must have been a dream calling for the director who had made a Bond spoof called Coldfinger when he was younger. Unfortunately, the story goes that a viewing of his comedy The Frighteners changed the producer’s mind. Just as well, she didn’t watch his horror comedy Braindead.
As The World is Not Enough came out two years before The Fellowship of the Ring, it’s probably fortunate the opportunity fell to director Michael Apted. Jackson joins John Landis in a select group who inadvertently removed themselves from the Bond franchise. Albert R. Broccoli wasn’t impressed with Landis’s treatment for The Spy Who Loved Me — where Bond rescued the Pope in Latin America — which he thought was a satire of the Catholic Church.
Denis Villeneuve
In 2021, Denis Villeneuve was another director who fessed up his James Bond aspirations to Happy Sad Confused. He told the podcast that he’d love to direct a Bond movie, although the epic universe-building of Frank Herbert’s Dune will likely keep him busy for a while. That said, the director’s been on the Bond producers’ radar before. Strong intel had Villeneuve down as Daniel Craig’s preferred choice to direct his final film in the role, No Time To Die.
When the Sicario director apparently opted out, the way was open for Danny Boyle and that recent part of franchise controversy. Will Craig’s departure from the franchise hurt Villeneuve’s future chances? The director has called the opportunity a “massive privilege,” “a dream,” and “pure cinematic joy.” He might be in with a shot if he tones down his ambivalence.
Christopher Nolan
Nolan’s name has been mentioned repeatedly in connection with Bond over the past two decades. A British-American who can take Batman to a billion-dollar box office haul and has talent lining up to work with him is a major draw. It doesn’t hurt that a number of his regular collaborators have constantly been attached to the role of the super suave spy (step forward Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy). It’s easy to see the shadow of Bond in Inception, The Dark Knight, and Tenet, and it’s hard to think of a higher-profile hire, but the director has dealt with the rumors directly.
When he was caught up in the hype of Daniel Craig’s final Bond film, Nolan immediately ruled himself out on BBC’s Desert Island Discs. Although, he did compliment the franchise’s producers and said, “I would love to make a Bond film at some point.” Nolan once told Playboy magazine that he’d only get involved in a “reinvention” of the series. While EON retains a vice-like grip on the franchise, Craig’s departure may be the closest the franchise gets to meeting Nolan’s requirements.