The director came first, and now it’s the screenwriter. MGM just announced that Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, has been hired to write the next James Bond movie, which will be directed by Denis Villeneuve.
News of Knight’s hiring was first reported by Deadline before being confirmed by the official 007 account. According to the trade, since Villeneuve’s hiring, producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman (who are shepherding the franchise) have been focusing on finding the right writer. Several people met on the project, and Knight was their choice, but he had to be approved by Villeneuve. The pair met last week, just as Villeneuve got to work on Dune: Part Three, and he gave the seal of approval.
If Steven Knight sounds familiar, there are a few reasons. Of course, the biggest is that he created the massive period gangster show, Peaky Blinders, which could speak a bit to how he’d handle a spy film like Bond. On the film side, he’s been doing mostly prestige scripts for films such as Eastern Promises, The Hundred Foot Journey, Allied, Spencer, and Maria. He also wrote and directed Serenity, but not the sci-fi Joss Whedon film. He did the infamous one starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. So they haven’t all been winners.
Knight was also one of the many writers who took a crack at Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey-centric Star Wars movie. So he’s flirted with big franchises before but really gets a major one here. Oh, and don’t confuse him with Steven DeKnight, who did Spartacus and Netflix’s Daredevil. Different guys.
So, what’s next for this movie? Well, with Villeneuve off making Dune, Knight will work on the script with the understanding that, once the director starts to wrap up one movie, the script will be in solid shape so he can move to this movie. That means casting for the main character, which is clearly the most exciting thing about this whole process, wouldn’t be until sometime next year.
Denis Villeneuve is directing a James Bond script by Steven Knight, produced by Amy Pascal and David Heyman. Not a bad lineup, and things are just getting started. What do you think?
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