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Who Daniel Craig May Want To Direct The Next James Bond Movie
With Daniel Craig reportedly set to return to the Bond franchise for one more ride in Bond 25, the race is on to find a new director to take the reins on the project. For many filmmakers, this would represent a dream job, and Bond fans have consistently chimed in with their ideas about who should get the gig — ranging from Christopher Nolan to Quentin Tarantino. Now it seems that Craig may have a dream choice of his own, as new rumors have hinted that the Bond actor wants Blade Runner 2049‘s Denis Villeneuve.
With anticipation running high for Denis Villeneuve to dive headfirst into the Blade Runner universe, Daniel Craig reportedly seems to think that the Canadian filmmaker could similarly rejuvenate the James Bond franchise with the upcoming production of Bond 25. Craig is reportedly championing Villeneuve to step behind the camera on the twenty-fifth entry in the long-running spy franchise, and based on the number of hoops studio has been willing to jump through to lock him down, it’s not outside the realm of possibility to assume that the actor’s support could go a long way towards getting Villeneuve the job. This report comes after another recent news story broke suggesting that Denis Villeneuve was one of three frontrunners on the Bond 25 shortlist — with the other two options being Hell or High Water‘s David Mackenzie and ’71‘s Yann Demange.
As a filmmaker, Denis Villeneuve already has quite a bit going for him to deliver some strong results in the world of James Bond. With his work on films like Sicarioand Prisoners, he has shown his capability of producing grounded, gritty, and downright mean thrillers. As the Daniel Craig Bond years have very much felt defined by a down and dirty sensibility, this could potentially make him a perfect choice to take over from Sam Mendes — who directed Skyfall and Spectre.
Beyond his potential comfort in a Bond film, Denis Villeneuve’s recent work seems to show just how ambitious his films have become as he has moved into bigger and bolder territory. Blade Runner 2049 has already garnered a ton of buzz, and his Oscar-nominated work on Arrival showed what he’s capable of when he lets loose and plays with cerebral, non-linear stories fronted by strong female characters. Put all of that together, and you have the recipe for a Bond film unlike anything that we have ever seen before. Per this recent Daily Mail report, it certainly makes sense that Daniel Craig may want Villeneuve for this job.
Only time will tell if Denis Villeneuve will step behind the camera for Bond 25, but it is a possibility that has us very excited. Until then, you can catch the director’s latest work on Blade Runner 2049, which debuts in theaters on October 6
Anna Kendrick’s Female Santa Claus Movie Is Lining Up An Excellent Cast
While Disney seems to be mostly focused on their massive franchises like Marvel and Star Wars, the studio is still making the sorts of light-hearted family movies that helped make their name. One of those films that the studio is currently planning is a film called Nicole, about the daughter of Santa Claus. We first heard about the film several months ago when Disney began to eye one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood for the lead. Now, it looks like the movie is putting together an impressive cast all around.
The title role of Nicole is going to Anna Kendrick who will play the daughter of Santa Claus, who takes over the family business after her brother apparently gets cold feet over taking on the position. Kendrick has previously worked with Disney once before when she played Cinderella in the film adaptation of the musical Into the Woods. Kendrick’s comedy skills are well known which makes her a perfect fit for a film like this. While she tends to make more adult comedies, she’s a generally well-regarded actress with broad appeal to audiences so we can imagine that this movie already has massive potential.
The role of the aforementioned son of Santa Claus, and brother to title character Nicole, will be played by Bill Hader. Hader also has previous Disney experience as the voice of Fear in Inside Out as well as voicing a character in the Steven Spielberg directed, The BFG and Finding Dory. His voice was most recently heard as that of Alpha 5 in the big screen Power Rangers movie. He’ll next be seen at the title character in the upcoming HBO series Barry and he still pops into Saturday Night Live now and then via the Weekend Update limited series.
The newest addition to the Nicole cast appears to by Billy Eichner who The Wrap is reporting is currently in talks to join the production. There’s no mention of what character Eichner would play, so at this point, that’s being left to our imagination. This is the second Disney film that Billy Eichner has been attached to in recent months, as he will also voice the role of Timon in Jon Favreau’s upcoming remake of The Lion King. He can currently be seen on American Horror Story: Cult, and Netflix’s recent series Friends from College.
The cast of Nicole certainly seems to be shaping up into something solid. The movie is expected to go into production later this year with a release date of November 8, 2019 currently set.
The Funny Reason Harrison Ford Punching Ryan Gosling For Real Isn’t Featured In Blade Runner 2049
One of the funniest stories to emerge from the set of Blade Runner 2049 is that during one of the movie’s fight scenes, Harrison Ford accidentally punched Ryan Gosling square in the face. Both Ford and Gosling have spoken about the experience and tried to explain why it happened — but if you were actually hoping to see that particular shot in the movie, I have some bad news. Speaking with director Denis Villeneuve this weekend, I learned that while the punch was recorded on film it couldn’t be used because the incident resulted in Gosling bursting out laughing.
I think no — and for obvious reasons, I’ll tell you why. When it happened, Ryan immediately started to laugh. And Harrison was so embarrassed. You know, it’s a thing. Harrison is very professional and very strong with stunts. He did a lot of his stunts; he’s very precise, and has a lot of knowledge about that. It was just that we were doing a scene in a very dark environment, and Ryan misses his mark or something, I don’t know what exactly happened.
The domestic press junket for Blade Runner 2049 was held (fittingly) in Los Angeles this past weekend, and it was at the end of my on-camera interview with Denis Villeneuve that I asked about the fabled punch. I specifically asked if the actual hit was featured in the final cut of the movie, but the filmmakers response painted a wonderful picture of Ryan Gosling cracking up and Harrison Ford reaching out apologetically. It’s a fun image to conjure, and we can only hope that the actual footage is released on the film’s Blu-ray.
Harrison Ford’s guilt about actually driving his knuckles into Ryan Gosling’s face is on record — but it’s honestly surprising that we don’t hear more stories like this from film sets. It’s true that actors go through a lot of training to prepare for action parts, and every precaution is taken to ensure everybody’s safety, but even still you’d expect the odd contact to be made when choreographing a chaotic sequence where blows are being traded back and forth. All the same, it certainly sounds like Gosling took the whole thing in stride.
And not only did Ryan Gosling find himself laughing after being punched in the face on the Blade Runner 2049 set, he actually got some funny words of encouragement from his director after it happened. Denis Villeneuve told me that after the punch, he took his star aside and offered some words of encouragement:
We made a lot of jokes about that. And when it happened I felt bad because I was sad for both of them, you know? But at the same time I said secretly to Ryan, ‘You know what? When you can see it from another point of view, it’s an honor to be punched by Indiana Jones!’
You can watch Denis Villeneuve discuss the much ballyhooed punch by clicking play on the video below!
After Years and years of waiting and building anticipating, Blade Runner 2049 is finally almost here. The new sci-fi blockbuster will be in wide release here in the United States starting on October 6th — and you should be sure to stay tuned here on SC for more from my interviews with the movie’s filmmakers and stars!
SCREEN CREEPER 