The whispers we’ve been hearing might have had some merit to them. During a masterclass in Paris, Alfonso Cuarón implicitly confirmed discussions with Amazon/MGM to direct Bond 26.
There is indeed this project under discussion, and I have a desire — if it happens — to revisit this story in my own way.
Last month, a source inside of Amazon/MGM was telling Jeff Sneider that rumored Bond producer David Heyman was potentially eyeing Alfonso Cuarón to direct the next 007 instalment.
A few weeks later, Matt Belloni revealed that he’d also heard Cuarón could direct Bond 26, adding that the filmmaker had met with Amazon and has a new “take” for how the next one would look like.
Amazon wants to move quickly and have a team ready once the $1 billion rights deal is closed with Barbara Broccoli. Writers have already been hired for Bond 26; it makes sense that a director is now being eyed as well.
Back in the aughts, Cuarón had been offered to direct Bond, but the filmmaker was quickly turned off once he found out that there would be a separate Broccoli-approved team shooting the action.
Now, Cuarón is no slouch when it comes to action (“Children of Men”) and he’s already tackled a franchise with a loyal following (“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”). He seems like a good fit, and was already my #3 pick to steer the franchise forward for Amazon after Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve.
Cuarón is coming off the Apple TV series “Disclaimer,” but he hasn’t directed a film since 2018’s “Roma”; he’s due to hop onboard something in the coming months. Will it be Bond 26? Quite frankly, I’d love to see that.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.