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At a time, during the pandemic, Nolan was not in agreement with how the studio treated their slate (streaming vs theatrical releases)... The studio was correct in how they were protecting their investments during the pandemic but Nolan went ballistic...
Not only that, he went public on it (something EoN doesn't like, and that's why they keep their firings to a terse "creative differences")...
If one was to go further and believe industry rumours, Nolan was pissed, incensed, that they didn't confer with him, and; the studio was believed to have had enough of his artistic temperament.
Like M. Night before him, when a studio lets you walk away without a fight, that's coz they want you gone.
Just sayin'...
tbf how warners acted WAS deplorable in that instance, not just to him but many creatives. They announced they were moving all or most of their slate to streaming without even consulting with ANYONE who was involved in the creative process. This was years of people's lives and they found out via a press release. Pretty much everyone condemned Warners for that, it wasn't just nolan, though undoubtedly he was the most high profile.
Now, the way they went about telling the filmmakers is up for debate, but not their reasoning.
Nolan didn't have a dog in the fight, and went public.
If industry rumours are to be believed he did this because he wasn't consulted.
And there's the little issue of letting Nolan walk without a fight (and that is telling everything without saying a word). Please read three times before responding, lol.
NO ONE was consulted, and MANY in the industry were angry at Warners at the time. I don't really think that qualifies him as being a diva.
As far as I'm aware he had a very strong relationship with Warner, hence why they made so many films with him, and even took massive risks on Interstellar, Dunkirk and Tenet, which really had no selling power besides nolans name.
Regardless, I think EON needs someone BIG next time, because it's highly likely that we're about to have back to back 5+ year gaps, and they need to comeback at the top of their game. Whether it's Nolan or someone else, they need to have experience on these types of movies, and there's not a lot of names out there for that.
Personally I want Edgar Wright, but I realise that EON probably wouldn't take a risk on someone like that to kick of their new era, who hasn't directed a budget higher than 80 million before.
There are times for taking a big risk on a director, and there are times for someone to guide the ship through some rough waters. Campbell would always be that guy to steady the ship, but he won't be there this time. That's why I think its Nolan, or someone very much like him, who knows these types of movies inside and out.
I don't like how WBs communicated to the filmmakers. But the filmmakers already know who they work for.
These people who made the decisions OWN the product. They are RESPONSIBLE for the investments.
The filmmakers were already paid, and contractually have no part in how the company distributes their work (they seemingly also took care of their residuals. Something Disney/Marvel didn't do for ScarJo and her solo effort (I believed she sued her studio, something NO filmmaker did to Warner's. Take a sec and think about that).
Nolan didn't have a dog in the fight.
He made this public (without saying how contracts with filmmakers were honored).
He had a 20 year history with WB, and they let him go without a fight. Let him walk (that says everything)... Compare this to how they hold onto Eastwood... Or Affleck... Or other filmmakers in their stable....
You are correct that Nolan had a good relationship for a while at WB. But long gone were those days when he went public on a business decision that had NOTHING to do with him, and they let him walk. Think about that (his temperament was running thin, and perhaps they also predicted a creative decline), they let him go, as Disney let their big one go (M. Night).
Just meditate on the above.....
In the end, EoN could still go for Nolan...
EDIT: IF Oppenheimer does better than expected business, and if EoN is partnering up with Universal again, this deal may be the easiest to make happen, but....
I just think EoN will be looking at a fresh creative force on the way up, than one who, for a decade, has creatively been on the way down (and who has a temperament that's suspect (read: big ego)).
directors have many ups and downs in their careers. It's not all upside, followed by a fade into nothing. Tarantino during the Kill Bill/Grindhouse era was kinda average, but then he made inglourous b******** and had a whole second wave of great movies. That's just how it goes, people aren't machines, after all. while nolans recent movies have been far from his best, they are at least "failures" for the right reasons. Speaking of "tenet" okay it's really bizarre and messy, but not because nolans just going through the motions and doesn't care anymore. Infact it's the opposite, he's too concerned with breaking the mold and experimentation. It's not like he had the knack of big budget filmmaking and suddenly lost it overnight, he just needs to rein himself in a bit, which is perfectly doable. To be clear, I think Nolan knew perfectly well that tenet would be alienating to some, but the studio basically wrote him a blank check after dunkirk won a bunch of awards, so he got to make his strange experiment anyway. It's not like he was trying to make a straightforward story and just missed the mark. No - he meant it to be that way. I remember when we would celebrate when studios gave directors the freedom to make their art without bashing them over the head, it was called the 70's and a lot of the best movies were made during that time. But that being said, I highly doubt that Nolan would approach bond the way he approached dunkirk or tenet, which were both experiments (dunkirk was more successful if you ask me). The Man clearly knows the basics of storytelling or he wouldn't have been able to make TDK trilogy or inception/prestige in the course of 10 years. When it comes to TDKR that was clearly a film he never wanted to make, but Warner only gave him the budget for interstellar on the condition that he complete his bat trilogy. He was very much burnt out after working in that world since 2004, but he still made an okay movie, just not anywhere near the quality of the first 2 two films.
And even if we say that Nolan IS past it, then who else is there? EON can take a risk on a young director, but we've seen that go very wrong in recent years, many times. The last thing EON needs is a Josh Trank or Colin Treverrow on their hands. No - It's either Nolan, or someone of his stature, with a confirmed history of being successful with big budgets, and I can't really think of any of those guys EON would be interested in. Zack Snyder? JJ Abrams? I don't think EON would consider them. But Nolan? I could see it, especially when the pressure is on them to deliver and nolan seems genuinely interested and passionate about Bond as a franchise.
Tenet was a basic ticking time bomb-end the world film. He just made it silly and convoluted.
You keep bringing up Tarantino. Read his reasons for ending his directing career at ten films. You’ll learn a lot.
Mendes— who the hell asked for Trank and Treverrow? Who? You grab things out of thin air. I’ve asked you to read three times before responding. Now methinks you should read posts and articles three times OUT LOUD before posting.
I actually agreed with you that Nolan COULD be a Bond director IF Oppenheimer does above expected business and EoN is back with Universal. It MAY make sense. But my betting is still on a talented director on the way up, rather than Nolan— whose creative output is in decline.
This “discussion” has seriously run its course. I have a feeling you need to be right about every thought that comes into your brain, and you speak as if your opinions are facts. But just as you misread most of a Deadline article about the writers strike, you misread 90% of my posts and bring up unrelated threads to bolster an argument that’s nothing more than a conceptual paper tiger.
I’m actually living inside a small corner of the film industry. It may be small, but it constitutes more than headlines from internet websites…
I’d be more than happy to discuss further, and maybe off this thread too, but you really must be a more effective listener/reader. Discussions and floating ideas and spitballing is a game and no matter what we write here, it has no impact on reality. EoN will mentor PWB as their new director because that’s what they want to do and has no bearing on what you or I wrote on Mi6, or; they will give Nolan a shot (and fire him as they did Boyle (joke)), because they want to, and not because a guy named Mendes4Lyfe insisted it must be so… I thought you’d have learned by now that the universe doesn’t work because of what a fan demands to have happen…
fair enough, we'll leave it there. :)
to be clear, I never "insisted" EON hire anyone. Nolan is by far NOT my first choice to direct bond 26. However, speaking realistically, I think he has a strong chance to be the guy, and I think there are far worse options out there. How you read that as me "insisting" anything is quite strange to me but oh well.
I thought Nolan was a popular choice but it appears hes fallen out of favour with some, makes me wonder who people would pick out of a straight choice between Nolan and Villeneuve?
It depends in part on what they want to do with the next film, but I suppose some names that can be thrown about for now are David Mackenzie, Yann Demange, or Mark Mylod. If they wanted to go slightly higher profile, certainly a bit more on the 'artistic' side but still not quite in the realm of too cerebral perhaps someone like Ana Lilly Armirpour?
@007HallY said a “splash of comedy”…
@007HallY … I also love the idea of Mylod….
I wouldn't necessarily use the term 'comedic' myself. But there is an outlandishness/fantastical aspect of every James Bond film that I think needs to be played straight mixed with the occasional comic relief (which I guess is what things like the quips throughout the film series are for). But it needs to be believable, even at times scary for an audience.
So someone like Mylod is pretty well suited to this I would say. The Menu is essentially Horror meets Black Comedy meets social critique/character drama - an elaborate, almost nightmarish scenario that's horrifying but also humorous. It is, however, essentially played/depicted 'straight' if this makes senses. Despite the stylised sound design and visuals of The Bad Batch by Armipour I'd also say it makes its nightmarish concept feel 'real' too.
@peter I'd be surprised if he wasn't considered when the time comes.
I agree @007HallY ….
Menu was one of my top films this past year. Mylod is so sly and fierce and witty… he gets the best out his performers (… and Succession!….)…
Yeah, but there's a big difference between making a concept feel grounded, and actually attempting to BE grounded. That seems to be difference between the Craig films and what you're describing. I feel like something that's played "straight" despite clearly taking place in a heightened world conceptually has so much more room for creativity after the rather repetitive beats of Craigs latter entries. It's ironic, because people love to paint Bond 26 as if it's a choice between sticking with the Craig era tone and style or jumping back into the 70's for wacky antics. But it makes sense that if you have the tools in the toolbox you might as well use them, and its possible that a more rich, varied film could be exactly the "reinvention" they've been looking for. :D
I think that while CR and QOS were a bit more 'grounded' in a sense, from SF onwards the Craig films became slowly more fantastical and in line with what I was describing, albeit with a slightly darker tone than previous Bond films have traditionally been. Concepts like a cyber terrorist villains living on a ghost town of an island, nanobot technology that passed around a weaponised poison etc. were very much in that realm of the fantastical and heightened reality, but to me anyway felt real in how they were depicted.
In this sense I'd argue the Craig films have been closest to the 'spirit' of many of the Fleming novels. Not fully the same, but closest in terms of the films. Books like DN and YOLT have surreal, almost fairy-tale qualities to them on paper. But there's a sense that it's been brought into real life, and Bond as a character is in legitimately horrifying scenarios and genuine danger.
As I've said before, it's possible that we'll see these ideas expanded upon in Bond 26. Something a bit more fantastical than Craig's first films but mixed with an attempt to 'ground' it in a way that makes it feel more plausible/low key than the likes of DAD or MR.
Last week, during one of our discussions, you claimed ppl were always talking about Craig, and that they just have to let him go.
I remarked that it’s actually you who brings him up more than anyone else, 😂.
You’re really stuck in a rut on this guy. You didn’t like his era. Cool. Move on. Move into the future, because the future, whatever it may bring, will give us one absolute certainty that we can all predict: it won’t involve Daniel Craig.
It'll be easier for us all to move on once the picture of what happens next becomes clearer. Its kinds difficult to move on when there's nothing to move on to...
I'm sure in 2003/2004 people did a lot of reflecting on the brosnan age, and what to learn from it. ;)
It’s just rich that it was you who were suggesting ppl get over Craig last week, but it’s you who is always bringing him up.
And you’re not saying anything new. You’re just repeating all the things you’ve said over and over. I don’t think there’s anything to learn from this exercise…
And there’s plenty to discuss about the future, exactly because nothing has been set in stone. And this is the Director’s thread, so…..
That’s my point: you just can’t let this guy go.
Now that might genuinely be a good combination.
I suppose we'll see, but EON going with someone like Mylod would be very plausible. Ok, he's no Nolan or Villeneuve (his early filmography is... well, patchy to say the least) but he's a director who has hit his stride as of late, he has experience in a variety of genres through TV and film, and he seems to be competent at adapting other people's material for screen.
Really, these are the boxes that the next director needs to tick (and of course EON have to have a good working relationship with them too). In a sense there are much more interesting questions than who the director will be (ie. who will be writing the script, which crew will be returning etc.)
I didn't liked his directing style for his earlier movies and could've never imagined him for directing Bond, however his directing style seems to have changed a bit in the latest years? Also, he seems to be surprisingly good at directing action scenes. "Operation: Fortune", while not a perfect movie, had some well-made action scenes for example.
Well, I still don't think he will have a chance to direct a Bond movie, but maybe he wouldn't be the worst choice.