14 DAY TRIAL // Come this summer, Chris Nolan, one of Hollywood's most prized and talented directors, will be officially free of the Batman franchise, with “The Dark Knight Rises” literally marking the end of an era. This begs the question of where Nolan might turn his attention to next.
Given the way in which he reinvented the Batman franchise, there's no longer any doubt as to Nolan's ability to create something new and completely original from older material.
He's also highly creative, as evidenced by “Inception,” so he has all that it takes to make him the ideal candidate for another big franchise – say, Bond, for instance.
Nolan said in 2010 he would very much like to sink his teeth in a Bond film but, obviously, so far, he's been busy with other projects.
The latest print issue of Empire magazine, now on newsstands, has the director stressing he was dead serious when he made the comment two years ago, IndieWire reports.
“One possibility, albeit a way down the line, is a Bond movie. The director, as most Brits who grew up watching the Ian Fleming franchise on rainy bank holidays such as this one are, is a long-time fan of the series, mentioning Bond as a key influence on both 'Batman Begins' and 'Inception' (principally the snowy final action sequence in the film, which owes a lot to 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'), and a couple of years back, expressed an interest in directing an entry in the series at some point,” IndieWire writes.
Should he be offered the chance to do the next Bond movie, after “Skyfall,” for instance, he would jump at it.
“Nolan reiterates that he's serious about the prospect, and even says he's met with the franchise's producers at some point in the past, but cautions that 'It would have to be the right situation and the right time in their cycle of things',” notes the same media outlet.
However, there could be an issue with that happening: Nolan is famous for exercising a very strict control on whatever project he's working on, which means studio interventions don't sit well – at all – with him.
At the same time, EON Productions behind the latest Bond films, has quite a reputation of doing things their way – so it's not hard to see how this might not work out in the end.
“To us, that would seem to suggest that Nolan would only like to take up the reins if he got to make a fresh start, including casting a new Bond, so as long as Daniel Craig is wearing the tux, we wouldn't hold up hope for a Nolan Bond. But maybe the next time they decide to shake things up...” IndieWire says, trying to look on the bright side of things.
And, when that happens, and EON Productions allows Nolan to have a go at Bond, we might as well hope he remembers what Tom Hardy said about wanting to be 007 one day.