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The reported shortlist for the next James Bond director has been revealed – and it has me feeling excited and terrified about the future of 007 in equal measure.
According to Puck, Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright, Dune's Denis Villeneuve, Conclave's Edward Berger, Paddington's Paul King, and Fallout and Westworld's Jonathan Nolan – brother of Christopher – are in line to pitch their take on MI6's finest. Among them, Berger has purportedly delivered his ideas to new Bond bosses Amy Pascal and David Heyman, with others to follow suit.
Of course, it's hard not to get a little hot under the tuxedo collar at the thought of the likes of Villeneuve or Jonathan Nolan (who seems to have an innate knack for completely 'getting' established franchises right out of the gate) behind the camera.
The rest of the field, too, either strikes the right sort of quaint Britishness (King), fizzy action (Wright), or a more pared-back approach (Berger) that could take Bond into a brave new world under Amazon.
The issue is, though, that this Bond has to work. Now that long-time stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have stepped aside after selling up to Amazon, there's a lot of pressure on getting the tone right.
Could we have a 1960s-inspired spy caper? Or a hard-hitting Bond? Will 007 embrace camp or chaos? Either could work, with such an eclectic mix of directors, it's apparent that even those calling the shots haven't quite settled on what their vision for Bond is just yet.
Of course, Bond is a broad church. This is the franchise that has had one 007's allies be chomped by sharks and, a few films prior, featured a battle in outer space. But this is, arguably, the biggest decision in the series' long and storied history.
Personally, I would have played it very safe and once again brought Martin Campbell back into the fold after he kicked off both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig's eras in fine style with GoldenEye and Casino Royale respectively.
But I'm not paid the big bucks at Amazon. From the shortlist alone, it seems like Pascal and Heyman can't make a bad choice – but they need to get the director right and, hopefully, the rest will slot into place. Otherwise the, ahem, spectre of starting off on the wrong foot could haunt James Bond for years to come.
We have our own picks – for your eyes only, naturally – for who should play 007. Discover more in our guide to the next James Bond, then also dive into all the latest on upcoming video game 007 First Light.
