Dune director Denis Villeneuve is the best thing to happen to James Bond in a long time
Who's going to be the new James Bond? After five and a half years of fevered speculation, we finally have something approaching an answer: pretty much anyone Denis Villeneuve likes. Earlier this morning, the blockbuster auteur behind the Dune films and Arrival was announced as the director of the 26th Bond film, which remains – for now – untitled and un-cast.
These two further puzzle pieces will doubtless slot into place soon enough, though Villeneuve's appointment offers a tantalising glimpse of what the future direction of 007 under his new owners at Amazon might be, as well as granting the tech giant's handling of the franchise a much-needed PR boost.
After Amazon's acquisition of Bond has cost them the crazy total of $9.5 billion, and a creative falling out with Barbara Broccoli's Eon Productions - the keepers of the Bond flame since the Sean Connery years - the stakes have never felt higher for appointing the right director for the franchise.
But securing Villeneuve quiets complaints from every direction imaginable – this is a director whose work has screened at Venice and Cannes, is a four-time Oscar and five-time Bafta nominee, and has taken almost $2 billion at the global box office. (His two Dune films alone grossed just over $1.1 billion, despite the first being semi-nobbled by Covid.)
It's also a move that Broccoli herself could have never taken issue with, since she herself tried to do the same around 10 years ago, during the search for a director for No Time to Die, the last instalment in the Daniel Craig run. Back then, Villeneuve recused himself as he was busy with the first instalment of Dune – and indeed he's currently consumed with part three, Dune: Messiah, which is expected to shoot later this summer then land in cinemas by the end of next year. (This means that even with a Ridley Scott-like work ethic, we won't be seeing Villeneuve's Bond until the summer of 2027 at the earliest.)
Yet Broccoli's smartest directorial hirings were always journeymen rather than visionaries – think Martin Campbell of GoldenEye and Casino Royale, and Sam Mendes of Skyfall and Spectre. These were filmmakers who would bend to Bond's will, rather than vice versa. Villeneuve is known to be quite a different kettle of fish, and known to be bloody-minded when tangling with executives on stylistic matters. The first major scenes he shot for Dune: Part Two were nightmarish monochrome infrared sequences, which led to frantic calls from studio heads who wanted to 'put the colours back in' in the edit. (Because Villeneuve had shot them on infrared cameras, this was impossible.)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
11 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trans books for toddlers are an outrage
But let's move away from the brazen attempts to brainwash little children for just a moment and settle down in the story corner for today's educational tale (with apologies to Eric Carle), The Very Publicity-Hungry Campaigner. One day a tiny and very publicity-hungry campaigner, who wanted to be a big deal, hatched a plan to recruit pre-school allies. He had guessed, quite rightly, that toddlers were the only demographic likely to believe his guff that anyone can change sex if they just pop on a frock and get furious about pronouns. On the first day, The Very Publicity-Hungry Campaigner gobbled up one publishing deal. On the second day he wrote two books explaining that girls who play with trains are probably boys and boys who like pink should be taken to a doctor and diagnosed as transgender. On the third day, The Very Publicity-Hungry Campaigner bullied women writers who did not agree with his crackpot notions. On the fourth day he slapped a great big Stonewall Award sticker on a book about a sister becoming a brother. On the fifth day, he ate a wheelbarrow of oranges and threatened to cancel anyone who said they were not the only fruit. Then on the sixth day, he disseminated a library of kids' books in which gender transitioning turned out to be the twinkly secret of a happy-ever-after. On the seventh day, he devoured every last scrap of bonkers gender ideology he could find and disappeared off to digest it. Some time later, The Very Publicity-Hungry Campaigner emerged looking like an extra from RuPaul's Drag Race and announced he was now a biological woman. The Very Publicity-Hungry Campaigner banged on about his lived experience (of about a week). It was tempting to get very cross indeed. But then the Supreme Court decided that references to 'sex', 'man' and 'woman' in the Equality Act referred to biological sex and after that, nobody cared what he said, safe in the knowledge it was now illegal for him to manspread in the ladies' changing room or beat women to a pulp in the Olympics. The End. If only it were. I thought we were done with all this nonsense – Martine Croxall we salute your eye roll at the witless term 'pregnant people' – and I for one have no desire to give Very Publicity-Hungry Campaigners any more of the attention they so desperately crave. Fighting dirty But new research into the publishing industry carried out by UK pressure group Sex Matters and its US equivalent, SEEN in Publishing, has revealed that a 'shiny, sparkly world of trans identities' is being promoted to young readers, with 'many aimed at toddlers'. Now that really is fighting so dirty I have to speak up: how dare publishers literally mess with little children's minds in this way? Here in north London having two mums is commonplace, two dads is no biggie; small kids aren't that interested in their parents' sexual preferences, they are interested in being loved, nurtured and protected. Growing up is hard enough work, which is why it's utterly immoral to draw toddlers, who haven't even mastered the potty, into the adult world of human identity politics. What next? Assisted dying and late-stage abortion? At this age, most of our collective offspring still believe Paw Patrol is real and the moon follows them home, for pity's sake. Sowing the seeds of doubt about their biological sex is outrageous, indefensible and, let's be honest, exceedingly creepy. Let our littlest citizens learn tolerance, fairness (yes even to women) kindness (ditto) and consideration. But they also deserve to know they have the right to ask questions and press for answers – anathema to the militant trans lobby who prefer to shut everyone down in case they bring up uncomfortable truths like biology. This new audit of the publishing industry found that of 21 publishers surveyed, a fifth of their output on transgender-related products was targeted at children, leading the report to raise concerns that the message in the early-reader books was often that becoming transgender will 'resolve bodily hatred and create enduring joy in the form of 'trans euphoria''. Crikey, if that were the case we'd all be at it. But it's not. Take a look at the shouty trans forums online and I've got to say that enduring joy doesn't feature nearly as often as spittle-flecked misogyny.
The Sun
42 minutes ago
- The Sun
The 7 shows vanishing from your TV screens in just DAYS after major overhaul – binge them before they're gone
SEVEN popular shows are vanishing from Netflix in a matter of days – so if they're on your list, now's the time to start watching. Viewers in the UK will lose access to the titles on Monday, July 1, as Netflix prepares for a major shake-up to both its content and interface. 2 The changes come as part of a larger overhaul that's already seen a wave of titles removed in recent months, and July looks set to be one of the busiest yet. Among the shows leaving are Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Loudermilk (Seasons 1 to 3), and the anime series Overlord (Seasons 1 to 4). Also departing is the children's favourite Rabbids Invasion (Season 4), Rubble & Crew (Season 1), and the classic magical girl reboot Sailor Moon Crystal (Seasons 1 to 3). Fans of nostalgic family dramas will also lose The Wonder Years (Seasons 1 to 2), which is being pulled as part of a broader Disney Television removal. These removals are largely due to expiring licensing deals and content rotations that happen behind the scenes. But there's more to it this time – with a brand new Netflix home screen redesign just around the corner. The streaming giant is launching its first major redesign for TVs in 12 years. Dubbed 'Eclipse' inside the company, the new interface promises a sleeker, simpler experience that encourages viewers to press play faster and discover content more easily. The layout will shift the main navigation bar to the top of the screen and reduce the number of visible titles at once, focusing instead on bigger images, more dynamic previews and video clips that auto-play after just a few seconds. 'The real goal of this is, how do we make it easier, how do we make it simpler, faster for you to make a great decision?' said Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix. One of the most notable features is 'responsive recommendations.' These will tailor suggestions almost instantly, based on what users are actively searching for. So if a viewer looks up thrillers or family films, their home screen will begin updating in real time to show more titles in that category – a big improvement from the previous system, which could take up to a day to refresh. Eunice Kim, the company's chief product officer, said the redesign is meant to serve both types of viewers: those who know exactly what they want, and those who don't. 'The way that the old home page is built, you kind of see box art, box art, box art, box art,' she said. 'It's kind of suboptimal, right?' The new layout aims to slow viewers down just enough to take notice of what's on offer, with titles now showing labels like 'highly rewatched,' '13 weeks in Top 10,' or ' Oscar nominee.' The changes also aim to make live content more prominent – like football games or special events – by showing live animation and movement directly on the home screen. July will also see the departure of several films, including The Equalizer 3 starring Denzel Washington, which is also leaving on July 1. Later in the month, the comedy Dumb Money will exit the platform as well. Overall, at least nine Netflix Originals are scheduled to depart in July, with more likely to follow throughout the year – joining the 250+ titles already gone. Netflix's redesign could have ripple effects across the industry. For years, rival streamers like Disney+, Prime Video, and Max have taken cues from Netflix's interface. With Netflix now breaking from the row-upon-row layout, others may soon follow suit. 2
The Sun
42 minutes ago
- The Sun
Call The Midwife fans convinced show will end in heartbreaking death as they work out final storyline
CALL The Midwife fans have been left convinced that the show will end in a tragic death after news the main series could come to an end. The popular BBC family drama will come to a close following the conclusion of the 15th series which is currently being filmed and is due to air next year. 3 3 3 It has left fans speculating at to how the programme might reach its conclusion and some have predicted a tragic death could be on the cards for one of its most popular characters. One character who looks set to meet her match during the show's finale is Sister Monica Joan. Whilst not confirmed, fans have begun to cast suspicion that she could fall victim to a death in the programme's final episode. The character, played by actress Judy Parfitt, has been a part of the show since the very first series and has been one of the drama's fan-favourite characters. Taking to Reddit, it led one fan to quip that they could kill off their longest-serving character for shock value. Speculating what is to come: "Something tells me that something is going to happen to Sister Monica Joan. "I think it's going to be a two part episode and the series will end with implications for the upcoming film... and maybe something for the prequel series." Another added: "Maybe so. I've honestly been waiting for Sister Monica Joan to leave because she was a bit of a nuisance at times and very openly disobedient and often willful. "The actress is wonderful but the character has been shown less and less the past couple of years." Whilst many fans were sad to see the programme come to an end, others argued that now felt the right time to call it a day. Call The Midwife fans in tears as beloved Nonnatus House resident dies in emotional scenes They added online: "I love the series but honestly it was time for it to end anyway. Maybe even beyond time. Especially after Lucille left." As someone else penned: "I'm not too sorry about the show ending — it's had a fabulous run, but the writing and storylines just aren't what they were in the early years." However, the BBC have clarified that whilst Call the Midwife's main series may be paused - the show's prequel and spin-off movie mean the show will still be on the air for years to come. They said: "The BBC would like to reassure fans that Call The Midwife will remain at the heart of the BBC for years to come. "As previously announced, there are two Christmas specials, a new series, a film and prequel series, before a sixteenth series in due course. "Call the Midwife isn't going anywhere.' Up to 11 million people watched the highly-anticipated episodes at any time since it first launched in 2012. It has won numerous awards including National Television Awards, TV Choice Awards and has received several BAFTA nominations. Call The Midwife: A breakdown Call The Midwife first came onto the airwaves in 2012 and has been seen by millions. But what is it about? Series one: Set in early 1957 and it explored the 'Baby Boom generation, which included themes of poverty and post-war immigration. Series two: Set in 1958 and it showed gas and air being introduced for pain relief for the first time. It ended with the Nonnatus House building being condemned. Series three: Set in 1959 and it depicted gruesome conditions such as cystic fibrosis, polio and it showed the midwives in the context on prisons. Series four: Set in 1960 under the threat of nuclear warfare and the emergency response guidelines issued by the local Civil Defence Corp. Other themes included LGBT rights, and syphilis. Series five: Set in 1961 and it shows the care of patients with conditions such as Typhoid and strokes. We also saw the effects of thalidomide, the introduction of the contraceptive pill. Series six: Set in 1962 and domestic violence was at the centre of the season. Other themes included FGM (female genital mutilation), mental health issues and interracial marriage. It was also notable for the introduction of Reggie, a recurring character with Down Syndrome. Series seven: Set in 1963 and we see Nurse Lucille Anderson for the first time. We also see the show address conditions such as dementia, huntington's disease, leprosy and meningitis Series eight: Set in 1964 and it bravely covered the issue of abortion, which was not legal for another three years in 1967. Sickle cell disease, cleft lip, cleft palate and intersex people also featured. Series nine: Diptheria was at the centre of the ninth instalment in 1965, and it was notable for featuring a blind expectant mother. But the role of Nonnatus House within the community also came into question. Series ten: Set in 1966, Nonnatus House has a rival in the form of the private Lady Emily Clinic in Mayfair. PKU, diabetes and the controversy surrounding abortion were central themes. Series eleven: Set in 1967 amid the housing crisis and a scabies epidemic. The show was rocked by a train crash right next to Nonnatus House.
