Thursday Thoughts…
A
one-and-done Bond deal for Denis: If you can’t get Chris Nolan, Denis Villeneuve is about as great as Amazon MGM Studios could do for both the quality and commerciality of its first James Bond movie. The Oscar-nominated Dune and Arrival filmmaker is certainly the most acclaimed and visually stylish auteur to take on Bond since… all of them? Though Sam Mendes (American Beauty) is still the only
Oscar-winning Bond filmmaker, both Lewis Gilbert (Alfie) and Marc Forster (Finding Neverland) had been nominated before they took on 007. Anyway, it’s quite a statement by Amazon’s Courtenay Valenti and producers David Heyman and Amy Pascal, as if to announce: We’re not the Broccolis, we don’t just want someone to boss around.
Still, the gig comes with limitations.
Villeneuve won’t get final cut, I’m told, and isn’t attached to produce future Bond film and TV projects—though obviously that could change in success. Studios have really cut off the trough for directors/producers who make one movie based on big I.P. and then attach themselves to everything after that. These ground rules were laid out in advance of the final director meetings that I
wrote about last week, so no big shock. Next up for Amazon: Picking a writer.
A related facepalm: Did you notice that publicist Kelly Bush Novak added her firm’s
name to Amazon’s Denis press release? No, publicists do not negotiate deals and are not typically included in talent announcements, but is anyone surprised? I suppose CAA should be thankful that the P.R.-seeking P.R. person didn’t demand to be listed first.
And speaking of publicists…
