Every James Bond movie ends with the message “James Bond will return”. But, frankly, he’s taking his sweet time about it. It’s been four years since Daniel Craig bowed out of the franchise with No Time to Die, and, until today, there’d been complete radio silence on the next movie.
Since then, Bond has been purchased by Jeff Bezos and Amazon, who apparently have plans to transform the franchise into a sprawling cross-media enterprise including spin-off TV shows and so on. The jury’s out whether that’s a good idea, but at least the very first piece of solid information about the new movie is a huge win.
Denis Villeneuve will direct the next James Bond film.
— Variety (@Variety) June 25, 2025
“Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since ‘Dr. No’ with Sean Connery. I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory,” Villeneuve… pic.twitter.com/Uc7W9Dpblm
Denis Villeneuve, director of the Dune movies and Blade Runner 2049, has officially been confirmed as director and released a statement underlining how much of an honor this is for him:
“Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since ‘Dr. No’ with Sean Connery. I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honor the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come. This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honor”
The only fly in the ointment is that the movie won’t be here for a while. Villeneuve is currently working on Dune: Messiah, which is targeting a 2026 release (which seems optimistic!). After that, it’s time for him to embrace Bond, along with whichever actor is gifted one of the best roles in cinema.
Bullseye
Film fans are practically salivating over what’s coming. All of Villeneuve’s movies look incredible and he’s proven he can handle everything from epic sci-fi to naturalistic action:
Salivating over the thought of what a James Bond movie from Denis Villeneuve would look like. pic.twitter.com/yxyZ1G86g1
— James Rai (@MovieDisciple) June 20, 2025
Denis Villeneuve makes some of the most amazing and beautiful films. Especially his cinematography masterpiece Blade runner 2049. So i cannot wait to see this James bond film. it’s going to be peak https://t.co/K0tvKwtq2s pic.twitter.com/uc2xwb1ekf
— jason(@spongebobsloth) June 26, 2025
Even those who were deeply skeptical about Amazon taking over the franchise from the Broccolis seem pleased:
Me: my god Amazon is going to turn Bond in to the worst slop we’ve ever seen
— Total Perspective Vortex Investments (@perspectvortex) June 26, 2025
Me seeing the Villeneuve news: https://t.co/YG1kQ5uMVz pic.twitter.com/6P2BfNUdbW
Hopefully, pre-production and casting can take place alongside the Dune: Messiah shoot so we finally – finally – can stop theorizing who’s going to be the new 007.
My take is that they’re likely to go for a younger actor. Craig was 38 when he made Casino Royale and 51 when making No Time to Die, with his character arc focusing on his age and the toll his action-packed job takes on his body. The Bond producers will presumably want to lock in someone for at least four movies and the stately pace of the franchise’s development means they’re looking at a 15-year commitment.
Villeneuve won’t want to retread the same story as the last Bond, so perhaps we’ll see them mimic the classic Connery formula and cast an actor in their early 30s. Fingers crossed they hit it out of the park.
