James Bond Director Denis Villeneuve Once Revealed His Favorite 007 Movie

Published 1 day ago• 3 minute read

. The company quickly set about putting a new Bond movie together, and it was only just revealed that none other than Denis Villeneuve ("Dune," "Sicario") won the job and will be helming the forthcoming reboot.

Villeneuve is one of the most respected filmmakers working today and beat out some other big names for the job. While his commitments to "Dune 3" means "James Bond 26" will have to wait a little bit, Amazon clearly believes it's worth waiting for. So, what's Villeneuve's history with the "James Bond" film series? Does he have any personal favorite movies?

"I'm a major Bond fan," Villeneuve said in a 2021 interview with BBC Radio 1. "There's nothing like a good James Bond to cheer you up." The filmmaker was then asked if he had any favorite entries in the franchise. Like many of us, it turns out that he's a huge fan of Daniel Craig's turn as the MI6 spy, particularly in "Casino Royale." Here's what he had to say about it:

"'Casino Royale,' the first Daniel Craig Bond, is still one of my favorites of all time, I would say. And 'Skyfall' as well. I went through his movies several times, I must say, in difficult periods."

Daniel Craig as James Bond sitting at the poker table in Casino Royale

MGM

Craig took over as Bond following Pierce Brosnan's four-movie run, which kicked off with the much-beloved "GoldenEye." Brosnan's run ended, however, with one of the worst entries in the property, "Die Another Day." Craig's era then kicked off with a bang with the gritty, grounded, and stylish "Casino Royale," which is often cited as the best "James Bond" movie to date. So, Villeneuve's praise is very much warranted.

The director also highlighted "Skyfall," which was Craig's third entry and the only "James Bond" movie to ever make $1 billion at the global box office so far. Again, it's a celebrated film that few fans are going to argue against. Aside from those two movies, though, Craig's tenure was a bit of a mixed bag, with "Quantum of Solace" and "Spectre" ranking pretty low on most people's lists. Then again, "No Time to Die" did put a solid punctuation mark on his run.

What does that say about how Villeneuve is going to approach Bond? Not much. What we know for sure is that he's had a great deal of luck working in established franchises, as evidenced by "Dune" and "Blade Runner 2049." The next major piece of the puzzle is finding the actor who will take over for Craig as the next Bond. With a director now in place, that search will likely begin in earnest.

Whoever it is, he and Villeneuve will have some big shoes to fill. Given his fondness for "Casino Royale" and "Skyfall" though, the captain of the ship is well aware of where the bar is set.

"James Bond" 26 doesn't currently have a release date, but stay tuned.