Heaven for 007 is Blade Runner Denis
HADLEY FRASER will take Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein musical into the Garrick Theatre from September 28, with a healthy advance of more than £1.2 million. ‘It’s very silly — a feelgood night out,’ said producer Michael Harrison of the show, which is directed by Susan Stroman.
BOND star Daniel Craig is rooting for thriller filmmaker Denis Villeneuve to direct him in his final 007 movie.
Villeneuve, who made the narcotics drama Sicario with Emily Blunt; the grown-up sci-fi film Arrival with Amy Adams; and Prisoners with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal — plus the eagerly anticipated Blade Runner 2049 (due out here on October 5) — has spoken with Craig and Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson about making what is currently known simply as Bond 25.
Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are writing the picture’s screenplay. There are several other directors on the ‘wanted’ list, but I’m hearing that Craig is most interested in Villeneuve.
Actors enjoy working with the French Canadian.
Gyllenhaal has shot two pictures with him. And when Sicario screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Emily Blunt said she’d jump at the opportunity to work with him again.
Interestingly, although Bond has traditionally been all about masculinity, Blunt noted in an interview in the New York Times that Villeneuve ‘ considers women deeply’ in his films.
‘There’s nothing superficial’ about his female characters, she said.
That may be part of the reason why Craig — and Broccoli — are drawn to him. They have strong feelings about giving so- called ‘Bond Girls’ more power.
Judi Dench, as M, was a powerful female presence in Craig’s earlier Bond films (particularly Skyfall), and she was sorely missed in Spectre.
Craig’s spokesperson was not available for comment.