The rumors of Christopher Nolan helming the next James Bond movie won’t stop until the next Bond director actually gets announced, which might not happen for another year or two.
In a new profile at Variety, Nolan spoke about the massive success of his most recent film, “Oppenheimer,” but also tackled the possibility of him directing a “franchise” film. Much to nobody’s surprise, Nolan says he’d do it, but needs total creative freedom.
When questioned about what might be next for him, Nolan remained coy, not really wanting to delve on the specifics. The fact that he’s not ruling a return to franchise filmmaking means there is a possibility —
“Ideas come from everywhere,” Nolan explained. “I’ve done a remake, I’ve made adaptations from comic books and novels, and I’ve written original screenplays. I’m open to anything. But as a writer and director, whatever I do, I have to feel like I own it completely. I have to make it original to me: The initial seed of an idea may come from elsewhere, but it has to go through my fingers on a keyboard and come out through my eyes alone.”
The Nolan/Bond rumors had it that the director wanted to craft his own set of films from scratch, without the interference of any other creative bodies. And to be fair, Nolan has earned the right to do that. After the success of “Oppenheimer,” he can probably do whatever the hell he wants.
Nolan adds that he doesn’t start writing a script until he knows for sure that he’s actually going to make the movie he sees in his head.
That’s partly due to his experience writing a biopic about Howard Hughes in the early aughts. He loved the screenplay he’d finished and expected to cast Jim Carrey as the reclusive billionaire, but he had to abandon it when a competing Hughes project, Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator,” went into production. To this day, he hasn’t seen Scorsese’s film, something he had to confess to its star, Leonardo DiCaprio, when they made “Inception.”
Oppenheimer” was released four months ago. The film will be available on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on Nov. 21.
“Hope,” Na’s first film in ten years — his last one being the exemplary “The Wailing” —is a gloriously messy, blood-soaked sci-fi epic that may become a cult classic despite—or because of—its polarizing nature.