Guy Ritchie in talks to direct next Bond movie
GUY RITCHIE is in talks to direct the next James Bond movie.
The 48-year-old star is currently in Los Angeles where he is set to hold talks with producer Michael G Wilson about taking over the franchise from Sam Mendes.
A source told Mirror.co.uk: “Guy has moved up the shortlist and is now the front runner. He’s meeting Michael this week to try to do a deal and see if they can agree on a shared vision for the film.
“Guy is under serious consideration for Bond 25 and this LA trip should help take this further. He doesn’t have Sam’s artistry, but Guy is a fast-paced, stunt-based director who knows his stuff.
“He also has on his side the ability to keep calm and balance a big budget.”
Sam has directed ‘Skyfall’ and ‘Spectre’ in the long-running spy franchise but revealed in May that he will not return for another movie as he wants to work on something new.
He said: “It was an incredible adventure, I loved every second of it.
But I think it’s time for somebody else. I’m a storyteller. And at the end of the day, I want to make stories with new characters.
“I can guarantee whatever happens with it, it will not be what you expect. That’s what she (producer Barbara Broccoli) has been brilliant at, and that’s how it’ll survive.”
Meanwhile, Ralph Fiennes - who plays Bond’s MI6 handler M in the franchise - recently argued that the next director needs to offer a different “tone and argument”.
He said: “Well I think if you’re the next director of Bond, you’re going to not want to go down the tone and argument of what Sam (Mendes) has put into the films.
“Questions of British nationhood, and whether Bond is a dinosaur, all that. So I would guess if you’re coming to do the next Bond, you’d want to take it somewhere radically different, I think.” — BANG Showbiz