Former James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli praises Amazon's hiring of Denis Villeneuve to direct the next 007 movie, calling him "a fantastic director"

Denis Villeneuve at a screening of Dune — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Former James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has weighed in on the hiring of Denis Villeneuve to direct the long-awaited next instalment of the spy saga. Speaking to the Kermode on Film podcast, Broccoli described Villeneuve as "a fantastic filmmaker" and stated, "I'm thrilled he's going to be doing it."

Broccoli and her brother Michael G. Wilson surprised many in the industry earlier this year when they ceded creative control of the 007 series to Amazon MGM Studios. They had previously been the co-producers of the series since 1995's Goldeneye. In an unusual agreement, Broccoli and Wilson remain co-owners of the franchise alongside Amazon MGM Studios, with the latter party steering the course of Bond's missions.

When asked if she would have any involvement in Villeneuve's film, Broccoli turned the attention to her new project – a stage adaptation of the 2016 movie Sing Street, saying, "You know, I did it for 44 years and I loved every minute of it, but I'm getting up there now and there's a lot of things I want to do… like this beautiful musical. I'm doing a lot of other things. I have other movies I want to make and other stage shows."

Will Salmon is the Streaming Editor for GamesRadar+. He has been writing about film, TV, comics, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he launched the scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for well over a decade. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places too.

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