NEED TO KNOW
The newest James Bond writer is teasing the future of the franchise.
Steven Knight, who also created Peaky Blinders, told BBC Radio 5’s Live Breakfast on Friday, Aug. 1, that he is “hoping that being a Bond fan for so many years” will bleed into his script, according to Variety.
Specifically, his goal is that his love for the franchise “will sort of be imbued into me and I’ll be able to produce something that’s the same but different and better and stronger and bolder.”
It will be the first Bond installment for Knight, 65, who also wrote films in recent years like Serenity (2019), Spencer (2021) and Maria (2024).
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Noting that being attached to a Bond movie has “always been on my bucket list,” Knight added, per Variety, that “it’s fantastic to be invited to do it.”
“I can’t wait to get started,” he said of the upcoming 26th Bond installment.
While there is chatter abound about who might play the next 007 following Daniel Craig’s departure from the franchise — after several predecessors, including Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan — Knight is mum on the prospects.
“Very, very good question and one I can’t give you the answer to,” he said when asked by the radio show about who the next Bond would be, according to Variety.
One actor who definitely won’t be playing the famous fictional British Secret Service agent? Taron Egerton, whose name has been thrown out as a possibility over the years.
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The 35-year-old actor shot down any hopes for fans to see him as Bond in a recent conversation with Collider while promoting his new film She Rides Shotgun. “I don’t think I’m a good choice for it,” said the Kingsman star. “I think I’m too messy for that.”
Added the Rocketman star, “I really love James Bond and particularly Daniel Craig’s tenure. But I think I wouldn’t be good at it, and I think there’s so many cool, younger actors who would be great for it.”
“I think it would be wasted on me, probably,” Egerton joked.
Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is directing the next James Bond movie for Amazon MGM Studios, with producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman on board.
