Will David Heyman be hired to produce the James Bond franchise, and will he choose Alfonso Cuarón to direct the next film?
When Amazon purchased the legendary Hollywood studio MGM for $8.5 billion back in 2022, they found themselves in the James Bond business, as the Bond franchise was set up at MGM – and they wanted to start making Bond movies as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, creative disagreements between Amazon MGM Studios and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, who inherited the Bond franchise from original producer Albert R. Broccoli, slowed down the process. So, last month Amazon paid off Wilson and Broccoli (reported price: another $1 billion) so they can gain creative control over the franchise for the foreseeable future. There has been speculation that this could open the door to Bond fan Christopher Nolan finally getting to make a Bond movie, as he demands “final cut” on his films and Nolan getting final cut on a Bond movie was never going to happen under Broccoli’s watch… but Nolan is currently busy working on the epic fantasy film The Odyssey, which is likely to keep him tied up until next summer (the film has a July 17, 2026 release date), and Amazon didn’t pay $1 billion so they can twiddle their thumbs while waiting over a year for Nolan’s schedule to clear up, especially when they’ve already been sitting on the Bond franchise for three years. So now we’re hearing rumors about other contenders: like producer David Heyman and director Alfonso Cuarón.
Last week, Variety reported that “sources familiar with Amazon’s next steps on Bond say a film is still the top priority, and the studio will look first to attach a producer in the vein of David Heyman, who shepherded the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films with a cohesive vision.” Now, industry scooper Jeff Sneider has heard from “a very good source,” one with ties to Amazon MGM Studios, that Amazon isn’t just getting a producer “in the vein of” David Heyman, they’re getting Heyman himself to oversee the Bond franchise. Heyman is currently producing the Harry Potter TV series for HBO, so some suspect that he’ll be too busy with Potter to focus on Bond, but there’s a chance it could work out.
That same source told Sneider that if Heyman signs on as the new James Bond producer, his top choice for director would probably be Children of Men director Alfonso Cuarón, who he worked with on Gravity and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. (And Cuarón has said that Prisoner of Azkaban was “the best experience making a film I ever had.”) Interestingly, Cuarón was talking about Bond just a few months ago, as he revealed that he has been up for the Bond directing job before! “Ages ago, I was offered a Bond film. And I said, ‘Yeah, cool. Maybe Bond. I am going to do one.’ And then when the process started and I was going to shoot all the dialogue and stuff, there was a [separate] team doing all the action scenes. It kind of felt very weird. I was troubled about the idea of doing it. I had dinner with Joel Coen, and I said, ‘Joel, what do you think of Bond?’ And he said, ‘Oh cool, I enjoy Bond.’ I said, ‘Would you do a Bond film?’ (Coen said), ‘It probably falls into the category of a film I want to watch but not do.’ There I learned the lesson that some films I prefer to watch and not do.” So he stepped away from Bond back then, but maybe a Bond movie would be something he wants to do if Heyman is the producer.
Sneider speculates that if Heyman signs the deal soon, a writer could be hired rather quickly and spend the rest of the year getting the script into shape, with Amazon likely hoping for a 2026 production and 2027 release.
Do you think producer David Heyman and director Alfonso Cuarón could take the James Bond franchise in an interesting direction? Do you think Amazon should hold off until Christopher Nolan is available? Share your thoughts on these rumors by leaving a comment below.
