Is Christopher Nolan really the man to save James Bond?

The corporation will surely want to make a bombastic splash with its first Bond film knowing sceptical fans will need to be won over and won over quickly.

With that, it is no coincidence that just days after the Broccolis sold up for the princely sum of $1 billion, rumours began circulating that Amazon was intent on wooing Nolan to the series.

According to a report from The Wrap, there is “mutual interest” between Amazon and Nolan to put together the director’s dream Bond film to follow-up The Odyssey.

That alone poses problems for Amazon given Nolan’s take on the Greek fable is going to keep him occupied at least until next summer and likely longer given Universal will be looking to replicate Oppenheimer’s awards success, which means a director tied up by media duties and Oscar campaigns.

If all goes well (and in Hollywood, nothing goes smoothly), Nolan would be available for a 2027 shoot with a tight turnaround likely to get the film into cinemas by the end of 2028 – still over three years away – and six years on from No Time to Die, the biggest gap since Pierce Brosnan took over the martini glass from Timothy Dalton.

That could work in Amazon’s favour as the idea of Daniel Craig as Bond floats to the back of the mind and allows Nolan to imprint his own 007 on the world but for fans of the series, another three years of waiting seems difficult to stomach.

There is of course the issue of would Nolan direct Bond anyway. He has been effervescent about the series and its influence on his work – Inception features a none-too-subtle homage to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, while Tenet felt like a dry run for a James Bond movie – but this is not the first time the great British director has been linked to the job.

While he’s been the fantasy choice to direct a Bond film ever since his Batman Begins days, Nolan proposed a 007 film in earnest after he was finished on Tenet. Nolan (like Quentin Tarantino before him) wanted to set the film in the 1960s and imagined it as a two-parter.

It’s not known how far talks got and how much of a plot was developed but Nolan and Barbara Broccoli could not find a compromise regarding final cut, echoing similar issues with Danny Boyle over No Time to Die.

On Bond, the producer is king, the director more of a hired hand than creative visionary, which is a stark contrast to how Nolan operates and a red line to him ever getting involved in franchise filmmaking again.

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Amazon would have to give Nolan complete creative control over casting and final cut for a conversation to even become serious, a nervous proposition for any studio when dealing with the prospect of a $300 million budgeted film, let alone one they are betting their entire future on.

But Nolan is the golden goose of cinema with 25 years' worth of providing the commercial and critical goods for studios, and if The Odyssey takes off like Oppenheimer he will again have a blank cheque for whichever project he wishes to pursue.

What could a Christopher Nolan-directed James Bond film look like?

Chris Nolan does spectacle and he does it well. He has put together some of the most memorable action set-pieces of the last two decades. From blowing up half of Gotham in his Dark Knight trilogy to the physics-bending bombast of Inception and Tenet, Nolan has passed his audition for Bond several times over.

His hiring would signal real intention by Amazon to prove that James Bond is in safe hands and maybe even push the series into more experimental and daring directions – an older Bond once again starring Pierce Brosnan has also been rumoured.

The idea of letting more artistic directors try to imprint their mark on the series is also exciting, as while the Broccolis were careful stewards of Ian Fleming’s creation, they had their formula and it was not a risqué one.

Nolan’s hire would also widen the net over who will take over Daniel Craig’s Tom Ford suit.

While the Broccolis had a firm view of a younger Bond around 30 that can support the franchise over an extended period, Nolan coming for a one (or two) shot deal means virtually any actor would see the role as an enticing one. Surely near the top of his list would be previous collaborators Robert Pattinson, Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy.

For the Bond fan, there are few more tantalising prospects than Christopher Nolan in the director’s chair and even though it is a pipe dream, it is impossible not to get excited at the idea of him creating a 1960s-set spy epic that blends his penchant for operatic action, meticulously crafted plot and haunted, reluctant heroes.

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